TVP Is for Me!
I've been feeling rather down lately, for no particular reason. Just a touch blue. Tired. Run-down, if you will. It happens, so I've been waiting for it to wear off and go elsewhere for the last few weeks.
And, then, this afternoon it occurred to me that I have been neglecting my protein intake of late. Boyfriend has been cooking more than I have, and, as he finds soy disgusting, I haven't eaten any in ages. Haven't been relying on my usual source of iron (i.e. mass consumption of couscous). I resolved to do something about it immediately.
As some of you may be aware, I became a vegetarian in the middle of last year-in reaction to moving away from a place where beef is the largest industry-and so far it has gone well. Besides not having a permanent cold last winter as has happened for the last few years, I have been able to experiment with much cooking (which began with actually learning how to cook) and began to eat a great deal of curry.
Although I'm generally an adventurous sort of person when it comes to food-as long as it wasn't alive and bouncing around at one point, I'll eat it-the one thing that has always disturbed me is TVP. (Dehydrated flakes of soy? Mmmmm...) So, until tonight when I put to use a recipe that a friend sent me, I had never tasted it.
Dried up flakes of soy can actually taste pretty good.
8oz. TVP
2 cups boiling water
2T Tamari (or soy sauce but its not as good)
1 egg (you could probably leave this out to go Vegan)
2t cumin
2t ground coriander seed
2t paprika
3/4t cayenne pepper
1/2t salt
~1/4 cup chopped cilantro
~1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup flour
Rehydrate the TVP in the boiling water. Let stand for 10 mins.
Combine the Tamari and spices with the TVP. Add the flour then the egg if using. Add the chopped cilantro and parsley. Mix well and form into balls and bake, covered at 400 for 30 mins.
I ended up approximately halving the amount of TVP and flour, and there was still enough to last as leftovers for the next few days, although I kept the amount of spices and the egg the same, which resulted in a strong cilantro flavour (good, as I love cilantro).
My friend recommended eating it with hummus (Casbah brand mix, only to make it with 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup lemon juice instead of the 2 cups water suggested), which should be baked in a separate dish from the TVP and drizzled with olive oil, and to wrap the hummus and meatballs together in a pita.
In addition to everything else it was surprisingly cheap for the amount of food I got out of it.
Snagged from mundungus42.
Ask me a question about EACH of the following:
- Friends
- Sex
- Music
- Religion
- Love
- Livejournal or Fandom
Then post this in your journal/blog and see what questions you get asked.
Tomorrow is my last exam-wish me luck! As of 12pm I will be freeeeeeeee!
And, then, this afternoon it occurred to me that I have been neglecting my protein intake of late. Boyfriend has been cooking more than I have, and, as he finds soy disgusting, I haven't eaten any in ages. Haven't been relying on my usual source of iron (i.e. mass consumption of couscous). I resolved to do something about it immediately.
As some of you may be aware, I became a vegetarian in the middle of last year-in reaction to moving away from a place where beef is the largest industry-and so far it has gone well. Besides not having a permanent cold last winter as has happened for the last few years, I have been able to experiment with much cooking (which began with actually learning how to cook) and began to eat a great deal of curry.
Although I'm generally an adventurous sort of person when it comes to food-as long as it wasn't alive and bouncing around at one point, I'll eat it-the one thing that has always disturbed me is TVP. (Dehydrated flakes of soy? Mmmmm...) So, until tonight when I put to use a recipe that a friend sent me, I had never tasted it.
Dried up flakes of soy can actually taste pretty good.
8oz. TVP
2 cups boiling water
2T Tamari (or soy sauce but its not as good)
1 egg (you could probably leave this out to go Vegan)
2t cumin
2t ground coriander seed
2t paprika
3/4t cayenne pepper
1/2t salt
~1/4 cup chopped cilantro
~1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup flour
Rehydrate the TVP in the boiling water. Let stand for 10 mins.
Combine the Tamari and spices with the TVP. Add the flour then the egg if using. Add the chopped cilantro and parsley. Mix well and form into balls and bake, covered at 400 for 30 mins.
I ended up approximately halving the amount of TVP and flour, and there was still enough to last as leftovers for the next few days, although I kept the amount of spices and the egg the same, which resulted in a strong cilantro flavour (good, as I love cilantro).
My friend recommended eating it with hummus (Casbah brand mix, only to make it with 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup lemon juice instead of the 2 cups water suggested), which should be baked in a separate dish from the TVP and drizzled with olive oil, and to wrap the hummus and meatballs together in a pita.
In addition to everything else it was surprisingly cheap for the amount of food I got out of it.
Snagged from mundungus42.
Ask me a question about EACH of the following:
- Friends
- Sex
- Music
- Religion
- Love
- Livejournal or Fandom
Then post this in your journal/blog and see what questions you get asked.
Tomorrow is my last exam-wish me luck! As of 12pm I will be freeeeeeeee!