There are four people within my household, myself, a baby, a stroppy seven year old and a vegetarian. What a combination! Whilst we try to eat meals together I do find it a constant struggle to making two/three different dishes each evening and I am always seeking out something that can be eaten by the whole family.

Having tried Quorn mince with some success (depending upon the dish it is added to), I though I would try Linda McCartney Vegemince. It was on offer in Farmfoods for £1.00 per 454g bag (frozen product). Knowing that I usually develop a taste for special offer products, I placed three bags in the trolley just to be on the safe side!!
I have since sought out the mince in other larger supermarkets and unfortunately it does not seem to be that readily available - sometimes it is in stock but more often than not it isn't.

The mince is actually seasoned textured vegetable protein and doesn't look that great when removed from its bag. A strange pale grey coloured substance, not dissimilar to cat litter (don't let this put you off!).
I cook the mince in the same way I normally cook Quorn mince. I don't have a wealth of dishes - just the three! Cottage pie, bolognese and chilli.

I'm not too keen on the cottage pie, that is for the vege in the household. When mimicking a traditional gravy style dish, I find the mince reminds me of old style school dinners - cheap tasting but nostalgic. The texture is however quite true to traditional meat mince and when Bisto is added it does taste quite meaty.

The mince makes fantastic bolgnese and chilli dishes, absorbing the flavours of the garlic, chilli and red wine - always use red wine, yum.
My chilli is my absolute favourite - plenty of fresh chilies, big chunks of peppers, kidney and black eyed beans. It certainly rivals a meat chilli - it is much chunkier that Quorn mince and has altogether more substance.

As well as tasting great, the mince is an excellent source of fibre and protein and contains only 147kcals per 100g serving.

Further nutritional information per 100g:
Protein - 32.6g
Carbohydrate - 3.6g
of which sugars - 0.5g
Fat - 0.2g
of which saturates - 0g
Fibre - 9.8g
Sodium - 0.2g

I have found that I can serve this mince to the whole family - hurray! Although my youngest son rarely eats this as it does not contain the calories a baby of his age requires.
I would certainly recommend trying this product whether vegetarian or not.
Look out for it on special offer in a store near you!