Wow. I've been hearing about soy curls for years, but I never got around to trying them until a year or so ago. A Mexican restaurant that caters to vegans (I know, awesome, right!?!!) opened near us and I gave their soy curl burrito a try. Heaven! They were just so tasty, and I get them every time we go there now. So when I was in the New Seasons bulk foods section recently, I spotted these lovelies and thought I'd take a couple of scoops home to try out. Not bad at all! I think mine tasted almost as good as theirs!
It wasn't hard to prepare these at all. I just boiled some water in a small saucepan, let it cool until it was just warm, and then added some soy sauce, garlic, salt and lemon juice. (Next time I might try boiling veggie or no-chicken broth instead of water for even more tastiness.). Dumped in about 1/2 lb. of soy curls and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then I fried up a large onion, diced. When it was a little browned, I added some garlic. A minute or so later, I added the (well-drained) soy curls. To my surprise, I found that they browned quite nicely -- so really go for it. I like my Lodge Logic cast iron pan which really makes it easy to brown stuff. And the browned curls were quite delicious.
Voila! Then you can use it in any recipe! I used it in a veggie thai red curry (pretty basic, but maybe I'll post about it later). My personal preference is to add the curls to the individual serving plates so that it doesn't get too soft/soggy. These have a great, "dry" texture. I probably shouldn't say this, but my husband actually thought they were chicken strips! Yeah, about halfway into the meal I asked him, "So how do you like the new soy curls?" (he knew I had bought them). He paused and said, "Wha? Soy curls? I thought this was chicken!" I don't remember what chicken tastes like, honestly, so I can't tell you if he was right. They are good, though.
And a close-up:
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| Does look a bit like chicken, eh? |
Another goodie I have been making is a stuffed spaghetti squash. Squash has been on sale in all the supermarkets lately, so I've been taking advantage. So easy: just cook for an hour on 375 degrees. Then cut in half and scoop out the seeds and gook. Then scrape the flesh with a fork until you get a bunch of spaghetti-looking strands. Don't panic: they will be somewhat crunchy, and will stay that way. It's such a fun and interesting texture.
Then, sautee 3 minced cloves of garlic in about 2 tbs earth balance. Add flesh and sautee until almost cooked through. Add parsley flakes, about 2 tbs nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and (at the very end), a few good splashes of lemon juice. This is sublime. The pic doesn't begin to do it justice.
