Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Ode to Soy Curls



These things are awesome! Here's what I made for dinner tonight, a rare night that I'm home alone and want to whip up something fast and easy just for me. Only three ingredients! Soy curls, of course (available online at Food Fight Grocery if you can't find them locally), BBQ sauce from Whole Foods, and a slice of Mike's Killer Bread, of the flourless/sprouted variety to avoid gluten. Those of you who don't avoid gluten can, of course, use a bun of some sort to make this a more traditional bbq sandwich.

So easy! I soaked soy curls per package instructions for 5 to 10 minutes, which gave me just enough time to water our veggie patch and flower containers - the basil looks great! - then I fried the curls with some nonstick spray until they are quite browned, even blackened in some spots. I found through experience that if they aren't well-browned, they tend to have an eggy texture that I don't care for. They get more meaty-textured the more they cook. Pour some sauce on them, toss to coat, and slam it on the bread! Dinner! I know it's not a terribly photogenic meal, but it was dang tasty, filling, and fast.

FYI this dinner is also very low fat and high in protein, and for those of you who notice the conspicuous lack of vegetables, please note that I'm planning on making a green smoothie tonight for a snack, with banana, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, and rice milk. I'm a virtual powerhouse of nutrition!

5 comments:

Erin said...

That looks great! I'm getting my first bag of soy curls in a few weeks, very excited to try them.

Bobbi said...

Erin, my first attempt with soy curls was underwhelming and I was disappointed, but I learned that I had not wrung enough soaking water out of them, and had not cooked them enough. I recommend really squeezing them out after soaking, then browning the heck out of them. It's hard to burn them, and if they're not browned enough they can be mushy. I'm not much of a meat substitute person, but soy curls is a big exception for me. Good luck! I hope you love them!

Anonymous said...

I haven't tried making soy curls yet, although I have had them in a yummy soy curl fajita at Los Gorditos.

FYI - sprouted bread still contains some gluten. People with celiac disease cannot eat it or they'll get very sick.

Bobbi said...

Emily, thanks for the reminder for folks who might not know it. Fortunately I don't have celiac disease, I'm just gluten intolerant. I seem to tolerate low-gluten things like sprouted bread and spelt just fine. You must try soy curls at home! Easy and tasty!

Anonymous said...

I finally gave in and bought some soy curls this weekend. Thanks for the heads up on the squeezing and browning!