17 responses for this post

1. Genevieve on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 10:45 am

   I am a vegetarian (or, was and now am a 99% vegetarian who has tastes of things under the excuse of being pregnant…. I am not a huge fan of TVP myself, just because I am as into food texture as taste, and it has always come out kind of spongy for me. I’ve tried it in my veggie chili, and prefer to use Morningstar soy crumbles because they have a ground meat texture. But - hopefully you have better luck with TVP than I did!

2. Genevieve on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 10:46 am

   (and…. I’m George Costanza again. I think I need a remedial commenting class)

3. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 10:47 am

   I love the Morningstar crumbles, too, especially for chili.

   I was wondering if it would be spongy. I think in soup, though, it shouldn’t make too much of a diff. I guess we’ll find out!

   Gen, what non-veggie things are you craving with pregnancy?

4. Soosan on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 10:48 am

   TVP always kinda reminded me of dog food (not that I’ve ever eaten dog food).

5. Genevieve on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:24 am

   I’m kind of just craving protein in general, and thought I eat a lot of beans, tofu, etc, I have also been indulging in a little more. I grew up in North Carolina, which is a huge hog farming state, so I have had a little bit of sausage and bacon. And I had a slice of turkey at thanksgiving. That said, I am a vegetarian because of my feelings about factory farming and the commercial meat industry, and all of these little samples came from small local sources. (At least, I tell that to myself to make myself feel better)

6. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:28 am

   You have nothing to apologize for here.

   I was just telling Beth the other night how much bacon and ham I ate while traveling through Ireland with Lisa. It was reassuring and unnerving at the same time, knowing that most of the food we consumed at the B&Bs came straight from the backyard.

7. patrick on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:40 am

   My vegetarian mom always used the bagged (or boxed) and frozen fake ground beef — that’s the Morningstar crumbles, right? — but called it TVP. That just got added straight, like one might with already-cooked beef. One time I bought the dry stuff by accident; apparently it can be used with as little or as much rehydration as you want, depending on the desired texture, and on the texture of the dry stuff. Small granules can get added straight to soups, for example.

8. patrick on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:42 am

   More detail (just found this):
   How much water you use to reconstitute TVP® will largely depend on the size of TVP® you are cooking with. The small granules or bits of TVP® are easy to rehydrate: you can add them straight to soups or pour 7/8 cup boiling water over 1 cup of TVP® and let it stand for 5-10 minutes. Adding a little ketchup, lemon juice, or vinegar (acidity) helps speed up rehydration if you are in a rush. Remember, flexibility is a key component to cooking with TVP®. You can, if you prefer, use less liquid to rehydrate it and get a slightly different feel. You can also partially rehydrate the TVP® and then put it in the recipe you are cooking to absorb “some” of the liquid from the dish, and thus also the flavor. You can also change the texture of the pre-flavored items like the taco or BBQ TVP® by adjusting the amount of liquid you add. This can make it more moist or chewy. TVP® holds it’s texture and feel in things like spaghetti sauce and stews and will still be good for leftover use. Caution must be used in caring for TVP® after it is rehydrated. It must be refrigerated and treated like a meat.

9. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 11:46 am

   I just realized how fucking stupid my question was - should I rehydrate in broth to add to soup? WHICH IS BROTH. I think what I meant to ask was if I use for other things, should I rehydrate in broth? God.

   Patrick, thanks for the tips and link.

10. brgita on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    Over the last 8-odd years of my life as a pescatarian, I think I’ve bought TVP all of once. Not the biggest fan (ditto the sponginess)–IMO, there are better meat substitutes/veg protein sources out there.

    Which totally doesn’t answer your question…so kudos for giving it a shot! To give your soup a bit of a nutritious boost, maybe just dump a can of beans into the mix? Protein, fiber, vitamins…all good stuff!

11. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    The TVP is waaaaaaaaaay cheaper than the Morningstar Farm crumbles, so I figured we’d give it a shot.

    I’m not the biggest fan of beans, although lately I’ve gotten better about it.

12. brigita on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    How about chickpeas? Same bean boat?

13. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    I loooooooooooooooove chickpeas.

14. greg on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    TVP is uber delicious. I think of it as the food of the apocalypse. It’s high in protein, sits dried in your cupboard for years, and goes in everything. You’re right that you should just throw it in your soup. I think that is the best application for it. I think it sort of creates a processed chicken-esque element. I’ve done a lot of other things with TVP like meatballs, fake meat loafs, and taco fillers.

    I have a book on cooking with TVP. While the recipes are anything but extraordinary, it gives a lot of good ideas on applications of TVP. I use it as a starting point, and then make it more delicious.

    http://www.amazon.com/TVP-Cook.....amp;sr=8-3

15. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5:32 pm

    Cool, greg, thanks. So the TVP will come in handy once the zombies arrive and we are holed up in our garage? Good to know.

16. brigita on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5:54 pm

    Chickpeas are just beans with a better marketing team.

17. freakgirl on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    hee!

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