The barbecue season gets under way in earnest this bank-holiday weekend, and if you just can't face another meat fest, Marks & Spencer has a new range of fish and vegetarian burgers that are worth their space on the grill.
The vegetarian burgers come in edamame - or green soybean - and roasted-vegetable varieties; there are Scottish salmon and line-caught tuna versions for fish eaters. We tried the edamame and the salmon burgers, and they passed the Best Buys taste test with flying colours.
M&S EDAMAME SOYA BEAN BURGERS(€4.49 for a 270g pack of two; 225 calories per burger)
Soybeans are a useful source of protein in a vegetarian diet, as well as being high in fibre and a source of vitamins C and B. They're also an appetising vibrant green when freshly picked (and are "a refreshing change from our other small, green, round, delicious vegetable", as Birds Eye says on packs of the latest addition to its frozen-veg range).
They don't have to come frozen, though. The M&S edamame burgers (above) are bursting with the emerald gems, and a visible lacing of grated Cheddar, too. Chickpeas add substance, and coriander, lemon grass and chilli round out the Asian flavour. They can be grilled or fried as well as barbecued.
Although undeniably tasty, they are a bit on the stodgy side, and tasted better on their own, with a spritz of lemon juice on top, than they did in a bun. Are they a winner? As vegetarian burgers go, these are very good indeed, but the competition from the fishy corner was fierce.
M&S SCOTTISH SALMON BURGERS(€4.49 for a 225g pack of two; 170 calories per burger)
"Wow. These are really, really good." Not my comments but the enthusiastic endorsement of my junior taster. They're more like moist, pink fishcakes, blissfully free of stodgy binding, than burgers. There's an Asian influence here, too, supplied by the zippy coriander, ginger and chilli components. I'd happily forgo meat for these, and look at that low calorie count - make that two for me, please. Marie-Claire Digby