I have been a vegetarian for almost 2 years, and I have never been a fan of fake meat. Instead, I would always opt for things with bread and cheese or pasta and cheese, etc, instead of really adding more vegetables to my diet. But since I have been trying to lose weight, I have removed the cheese option from my diet be deciding to stick to a vegan diet and really make an effort to add more fruits, veggies, and whole grains to my diet.

One of the reasons I don’t usually like fake meat is because often it is still a highly processed food. But I had been hearing so much about Gardien that I thought I would give it a try. Gardien has two types of products, fresh (these would usually be in the produce section of a regular supermarket, or in the vegetarian refrigerated section) and frozen (these would obviously be in the freezer section). My supermarket only had frozen Gardein products, but I have seen fresh versions at whole foods before. I bought 2 different products, so this post is reviewing the first one.

Gardien crispy tenders. The cooking instructions were simple, oven at 430, 12 mins on one side, 6 mins on the other (or until crispy). They smelled great in the oven, and I just made a simple side salad to have with them for a quick lunch.

The texture of the crispy tenders was good, they were well seasoned (I didn’t add anything to them), and very tasty. It’s not something I would eat every day, but I think its a nice addition for when we just want to change it up a little.

If you want to try Gardien, but don’t feel like going out and buying their products to make at home, Chipotle is testing out Gardien in some of their locations. They are calling in “Garden Blend”. They are offering it at the following Chipotle restaurants:

333 E. Alameda
 Avenue
Denver, CO 80209
303-733-1331

149 8th Ave. (cross street: 17th street)
New York, NY 10011
212-620-4015

1629 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
202-387-8261