Adventures in faux meat

I've been cooking my way through my two new vegan cookbooks from Lindsay Nixon, The Happy Herbivore and The Everyday Happy Herbivore. So far my favorite recipes have been carrot cake pancakes and the black bean brownies.

And the best part is that I really appreciate how these recipes don't use up my eggs. 

Seriously, though, Lindsay does a fantastic job creating recipes that are simple, flavorful, and healthy. Many of them center around "faux" meat, also referred to as meat analogue. But I prefer the former, because faux meat reminds me of a nice warm fake-fur coat.

Last night I fixed TVP tacos, because I had about one cup of TVP on hand.

What is TVP, and why did I have TVP in my pantry?

TVP stands for Textured Vegetable Protein. It's a soy meat made from defatted soy flour; a by-product of extracting soybean oil. It is quick to cook, with a protein content equal to that of meat.

I had TVP in my pantry because a few months ago Zach saw a menu item at the Spiral Diner that used TVP, and so he insisted that we get some at the Sunflower Market when I took him there. I knew nothing about TVP and was, quite frankly, very frightened of it. So it sat and sat...until I saw a recipe for TVP tacos in The Happy Herbivore cookbook.

Here's what TVP looks like dry:

 

Here's what it looks like wet:

 

Basically, TVP is like quick rice. You create a liquid base -- for these tacos it was beef broth (Lindsay has a way to create non-beef beef broth, but since I'm not a vegan, I didn't feel bad using regular old beef broth), steak sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and chili powder. Then you dump in the TVP, let it soak for 5 minutes and your "meat" is ready.

(Zach asked why I kept referring to the tacos' meat as meat. I told him that the air quotes were assumed.)

Are you thoroughly disgusted? Think you could NEVER stomach such a disgusting nightmare as Textured Vegetable Protein?

Chances are you already have.

Remember that hubbub a year or so ago about Taco's Bell's meat really only being 35% meat? Well guess what part of that other 65% is? Meat "extenders," also known as TVP. It's also commonly used in school lunches to make the meat go further. (And prisons, too.)

Have you ever wondered why the taco meat at Taco Bell is so soft, and the pieces of meat are so fine? You always strive for that consistency at home because it's so good, but you can never quite get there?

That's exactly how this TVP taco meat was. Soft with a very fine consistency.

Bottom line? I liked it! I thought the taste was good, and the stats are great. 115 calories, 0.6 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 13.5 grams of protein. I think TVP would be great in spaghetti or sloppy joes, both of which are featured in the cookbook.

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