Post Punk Kitchen Forum

A quick tip on soy curls... if you have a 7th Day Adventist book store (often called ABC bookstore, or Adventist Book Center) give them a call and see if they carry soy curls. Butler is actually an Adventist company, and the Adventist book store in our town is the only place I can find them locally. Ours actually carries a small but interesting vegetarian food selection, and there are a few things I can find there that I can't find anywhere else. I'm not Adventist and am tattooed and pierced, but nobody has ever made me feel unwelcome there.

Whoa, I never would have thought to look for food at a book store. There's one not far from me so I'll have to check that out!

ETA: It also just occurred to me to post their Where to Buy link here: http://www.butlerfoods.com/wheretobuy/wheretobuy.html

I have just recently started using TVP too. I like it a lot! I use it in place of ground beef in tacos (my partners favorite kind of taco). Just re-hydrate about a cup of TVP in broth and a bit of liquid smoke. Then in a non-stick, saute up some finely diced onion, garlic and bell pepper. Add the re-hydrated TVP and some taco seasoning (I make my own) and cook for a few minutes. Voila! yummy taco 'meat'.

We also use it in chilli to make it a 'meaty' chilli. You can use it in spaghetti sauce to make a 'meat' sauce. Both use basically the same method as above, just different seasonings.

I have an omni partner that really likes 'ground beef' dishes, so TVP works. He does not really like tofu though, and the soy does hurt his stomach a bit unfortunatly. But he likes it, eats it, and just farts a lot the next day.

I highly HIGHLY reccomend trying out soy curls. They are like strips of TVP. They are a good chicken or pulled pork substitute. We LOVE them (note to self, order more soy curls today). I make some amazing soy curl fajitas.

and thanks to b.vicious, jerusha, and LisaPunk for sharing their tempeh experiences! and to anyone else who i forgot to personally respond to. i am surprised by all the comments this post has generated -- maybe because my subject line is just so darn cool ;) -- and i appreciate all the replies!



i think there where to buy link is a bit out of date. I'm in GA and there is a TN store in the list, and plus, Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe closed :( Never went there, but I wish I could have!



yeah, my hubby really felt the TVP was very ground beef like. he is a fan of tofu, sometimes we have tofu 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes not at all depending on what i've menu planned for. i'm not a huge online shopper, but i might need to make an exception for the soy curls and find some other stuff to add to my cart to justify the purchase.

wow, awesome tip! our town does have a 7th day Adventist Church, I called, no answer :( Not sure if they have a gift/food shop or not. Will need to follow-up with that!

I like to rehydrate the bigger pieces of tvp in a little bit of soy sauce broth, not too much or they become spongy. Then I mix them with a generous amount of spices like chili, paprika and curry powder and fry them in a skillet with a generous tablespoon of oil. They become very flavourful and have a nice chewy/crispy texture. We mostly eat them in pitas with some homemade garlic mayo and salad. I think soycurls would be perfect for this, but they don't seem to be available in Europe.

As I'm reading this thread, I suddenly realized that I'm the opposite of you, bookwormbethie. I make tempeh all the time, and am in love with seitan, but I still have never made anything from TVP. I have a bag of it sitting in my kitchen cabinet mocking me.

I like TVP on occasion. It tastes good to me, but something about it creeps me out. I much prefer homemade seitan (never tried the store bought stuff), tempeh, or tofu as a protein source.

do you have VWaV? if you do, make the breakfast veggie chorizo. it is freakin' awesome! my hubby adores it! i followed the recipe to a T, except at one point, in one of the steps she says 5 minutes and I did 10.

tofu (and beans) are our primary protein source too. we have tofu sometimes 2 - 3 times a week, or not at all depending on what i've planned to cook for the week.

i've only been a vegan since august so this was my first time using TVP to make the chorizo from VWaV. my hubby loved the texture of the TVP so much that I want to find other TVP recipes to try. plus with winter coming, i want to make "heartier" dishes that fill him up. i don't want him to feel like he has to eat gross meat to feel full. and if TVP is the way to go, then I'm all for it. of course, like tofu, I wouldn't have TVP daily. if we were having TVP 2 or 3 nights during the week, then we would not have tofu that week either.

my hubby really does want to try to make homemade seitan, which surprises me. it seems a lot of people do like their own homemade seitan.

TVP granules make awesome pepperoni and/or sausage crumbles if you season and rehydrate them properly. Num!

how can i make pepperoni crumbles?!

There's a really good recipe in The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions.... I don't want to post it on the boards, but I'll pm you.

Joni also posted the recipe on her blog, so here is the link for everyone who is interested in the recipe:
http://justthefood.blogspot.de/2010/01/ ... pdate.html

That chorizo is pretty damn amazing.

Off topic, buy you should try making seitan. It is very easy if you have the ingredients. I have an meat-eating fiance, and he likes hommade seitan. My usual go-to recipe is the one from Vegan Diner. It is super easy, just mix the ingredients (no kneading!) and wrap in foil and steam. Easy to customize the spices. Yesterday I made a small 'mexican' one and a small 'greek' one, at his request!

If you don't have that book, most seitan recipes are pretty easy, even if you have to knead for a little while. I think the ones you steam in foil the best, texture-wise (for me)

With cold weather coming on TVP in chili is great, Italian wedding or vegetable soup. To name a few.