TVP sausage pizza - flickr.com/jasleen_kaur
Sausage crumbles on a delicious quiche
EDIT: After a consultation with MamaHun and her cookbook, this recipe was edited slightly. It’s even more delicious now.
A couple weeks ago I posted a basic vegetarian quiche recipe from MamaHun & Walter’s kitchen. In posting it, I noticed it referenced “TVP sausage crumbles” which sounded good(ish) and definitely worth trying.
For those unfamiliar with TVP, it stands for textured vegetable protein. DELISH!
TVP actually turns out to be pretty tasty. It’s made from soybeans which are heavily processed and dried. You add water and spices and cook it to make a totally decent meat substitute. It’s cheap, too, has a long shelf life and is high in protein and fiber.
Wanna try? Get TVP at Amazon.com
Happy Meatless Monday.
RECIPE: TVP Sausage Crumble
A la swedish meatballs - flickr.com/rusvaplauke
- 3/4 Cup water
- 1 cup TVP
- 2 Tablespoons vegetarian beef broth (or 1 cube bouillon)
- 1/4 Cup vegetable shortening (e.g. Earth Balance)
- 5 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 Cup finely chopped onions
- 1/4 Cup bell pepper — chopped
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Fennel seed
- 1 Tablespoon fennel — ground
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano — crumbled
- 1 teaspoon dried basil — crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme — crumbled
- 1 teaspoon rosemary — chopped
- 2 teaspoons parsley — chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoons black pepper — coarse
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
tvp and whole wheat pasta - flickr.com/franciscodaum
- Heat shortening and oil in a large skillet. Saute onions, peppers and garlic for 2 minutes.
- Add spices. Saute 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Boil water and add bouillon or veggie powder, stirring to dissolve. Combine with TVP and add to skillet.
- Simmer and stir untio all liquid is absorbed.
- Cook 3 to 5 minutes on medium heat to brown slightly.
Makes 3 cups.
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This goes along with your Food Inc. post. After having watched said movie and reading literature like the Omnivore’s Dilemma, I find myself becoming much more wary of using soy products now since they are so closely linked to the corn industry and I’m really against what the corn industry giants are doing/have done to our food culture and economy. I’m trying to figure out if discontinuing use of soy products would send a bigger message to the corn companies like “hey, I’m not supporting your detrimental business in any form!” I probably need to do more research though.
What are your thoughts on soy products?
Oh god, I know! It starts to really get to me at a certain point. Yes, soy is one of the world’s most hybridized crops, and having visited Indiana I can tell you for sure it’s a huge cash crop. It’s used as an additive in so many foods we eat, including meat… so yes, it’s probably not that much better than corn.
But, at a certain point you have to draw the line, because if you try to be perfect you’ll drive yourself MAD.
The environmental impact of commercial meat farming is undeniably greater than that of veggies (even soy) because meat farming requires raising corn, trucking it to the animals, treating it with antibiotics (which of course makes us all sicker), then trucking the animals somewhere, slaughtering them, packaging them and trucking them a couple more places so we can buy them at the store.
Soy, while not the perfect alternative, represents a viable option that’s less harmful in its impact. That said, you are totally right, and I’ll probably spend my entire life trying to eat more ethically and reduce my dependence on Monsanto in all its forms.
You could definitely boycott soy products as well as corn products, but it would be a lot easier if you were (a) really rich or (b) producing all your own food. Otherwise it’s a pretty major challenge.
Ahh…that’s a good point about the commercial meat industry. Yeah, I am not trying to be perfect, but it’s a thought that’s been circulating in my head for a while lately and I’m curious what other people thought about it.
It’s kind of funny, I was a vegetarian for 13 years and in the last year and a half that I’ve been eating meat again I think I’ve been eating the healthiest of my life so far. Not necessarily because of eating meat, though I think that is a part of it, but just that literature about food production is so much easier to get now that I feel I am way better educated about my food than I have been before and therefore making healthier and hopefully ecologically better choices about it!
PS, hi beesknees!!
Hi! =)
The missing link for my search for the perfect vegan tamale.
Wait’ll I tell El Rich.
oh, and, making your own tvp sausage uses much less processing and thus energy than buying the commercially flavored-and-formed alternatives.
Tastes great in my favorite sick-day minestrone soup mix, too.
YUM!
im thinking that i might be going back to my veggie state that lasted 17 years (not including the years since i was 9 announced to my mom that i would no longer eat cows)
i started back with the meat about 6 years ago and am realizing the havoc that it has wreaked on my body. though that might also be that im getting old :)
as for the soy thing: i had to give myself a “caring cut-off” because i run out of energy for the good things that I like speaking up for and doing if i spread myself so thin. I let my trusty friends keep me in the loop about the things i cant handle paying attention to.
sounds a little douchey when i see it written, but ’tis the truth.
oh and the point to the above comment that i never got to for all my rambling is
keep the veggie recipes coming please and i will dust off my old ones and start posting!
Dude you’re gonna love my mom’s stuff. She just sent hummus, focaccia, tofu and a “cheese” casserole recipe… all vegan I believe.
I like your meat recipes too! I’m still a part-time omnivore and Earp’s a meat eater so trust me, they will get plenty good use.
My vegetarian hub is going to love this. He makes his own black bean burgers which are great but he needs to mix it up sometimes. And he digs vegetarian food that pretends to be meat.
Let me know how it turns out, and if the recipe needs any adjustments! There aren’t many vegan sausage recipes out there, it would be great to perfect this.