BOCA BOCA...

Although I have been a vegetarian for more than 10 years, I have not tried a BOCA burger (soy burger), since college, as I thought they tasted too much like meat back then.

When I was given a chance to try a BOCA product through the group Balanced Living here on Gather, I decided this would be a good way for me to try the BOCA burgers again without risking losing my money, just because I did not like the product.

I found that there were many different BOCA products to try besides burgers such as ground crumbles, breakfast sausages, sausages, fake chicken products and more. All the products are made out of organic and natural products, and they are mainly based on soy.

I do not miss the taste of meat, so some of these products did not appeal to me at all, but I decided to try the Savory Mozzarella Veggie Patties, as it sounded like there was a chance they had more taste than the ones I tried years ago. Boca describes the patties as: "A tasty blend of real oats, mozzarella and three kinds of mushrooms with savory hints of thyme and oregano".

The cooking directions says to either heat the patty in a skillet (recommended method), or to heat it in the microwave. Now, I like to experiment a little, and I prefer to heat food in the oven than in the skillet (this is what I do with my regular veggie burgers), and since we already had the oven on for the steak and oven-roasted potatoes, this seemed as the best option for me.

The appearance was a bit dull though from this method, but I put it inside a sesame burger bun with some crisp lettuce, tomato, red onion and cucumber fresh from the farmer's market.

I took a big bite, and no! There was no thrill, and no excitement. I had definitely not found a replacement product for my regular veggie burgers. The patty did not taste of much, and I did not really taste the mozzarella or mushroom either. It was not as bad as the patties, I had tried years ago, but I was not ecstatic either.

I am not one to give up easy, and I decided to give the BOCA Savory Mushroom and Mozzarella patties a second try tonight, before writing the review. I am sure glad I did, and I think BOCA will be relieved as well.

Tonight I decided to use the recommended skillet method. I decided that it needed a little extra taste though, so I cut up some yellow squash, red pepper, green onions and added a huge mushroom. I then crushed cilantro (coriander), basil, rosemary and oregano fresh from the garden in my Jamie Oliver mortar, and I drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil, before putting everything on the skillet.

For sides I had Mexican style beans and rice, and raw cut carrots.

It was a relief, when I took my first bite of this delicious combination. Combined with the veggies and herbs, the Boca burger was really good. It still does not beat my regular veggie burger, which has more taste, but if I see them on sale, I might decide to use the coupons I got from the news paper to try these again.

I guess the key to a good BOCA burger is to treat it like tofu, which take the taste of the veggies, herbs and spices that it is being cooked with to transform it into a tasteful meal.

I have decided to give the BOCA Savory Mushroom and Mozzarella 2 ½ out of 5 stars. I was leaning towards 3 stars, but I decided that I took a whole lot of work to make it a 3, so it remains at 2 ½.