Friday, October 30, 2015

The Veggie Clubhouse burger: McDonald's and quinoa?

I heard something on the radio this summer that gave me pause: there was an ad for McDonald's that mentioned something about a quinoa burger. While I don't like McDonald's except for the occasional McMuffin if I'm desperate for a breakfast on the run, I was curious about this burger. I'm not into fast food but if I could find something that tasted decent and was vegetarian, it could be an option if I'm on the run.

I finally tried the burger. It's presented on a toasted bun with cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce, and a sauce (which might be what they put on Big Macs but I'm not sure since I haven't had one in more than 20 years). The patty itself has quinoa, bell peppers, onions, and leeks all ground up.

It was reasonably crisp, which I think is because it seems fried. It was okay but I'm not super into fried foods and knew it would equal heartburn later as it seemed rather greasy. As far as flavor goes, it definitely had that salty-greasy, rich thing going on, which is what registered the most after the bun and toppings. However, if I had to eat a non-breakfast meal at McDonald's, I could order this again if I wanted to deal with the greasy aspect of it.


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Obviously this post is not sponsored, just to be clear. I'm not sure that the company would pay someone to say that she would buy the burger if there weren't any other options ;)

4 comments:

  1. "I might order the burger again if there were no other options" - Ha! Praise indeed. :-) I don't eat anything from McDonald's unless I know I have ready access to a restroom within the next hour. One of the great things about living in southern Germany - if I'm on the run, I grab a delicious pretzel!

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  2. Hehe, yeah, it's not really glowing praise. I don't care for a lot of fried food and am not into meat so McDonald's doesn't hold much allure for me (though I do like a frappe every so often). For me, the old, delicious German stand-bys of baked goods don't work so well in a pinch now that I've realized that my strange headache following eating them is the result of a wheat allergy. It's too bad, too, because a pretzel is not so awful nutritionally in a pinch.

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    1. Oh geez - a wheat allergy? :-( I don't think I could deal well with having that - going into a bakery now is what a candy store used to be when I was a kid. I'm trying more glutenfreie recipes, though, because a colleague and a neighbor are both gluten-free and I like/need to share our kitchen creations (the 2 of us can never finish a whole cake/pie/loaf). I'm doing a glutenfree apple pie this week (and I've never baked any kind of pie in my life)!

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  3. Yep, I just figured it out this year, thanks to my German doctor. Wheat allergies are different from gluten intolerance (which is linked with celiac disease). I think my wheat allergy has more to do with seasonal allergies and I'm allergic to the wheat itself, not the gluten part. It's the same thing with some fruit, especially during the nasty ragweed season. I ate watermelon in August and my nose ran like a faucet, I had a major headache, and my chest felt tight. If I eat it in January, I'm usually fine. I won't die if I eat any of these things but there comes a point when I say that the pounding headache and congestion just aren't worth it.

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