Textured Soy Protein and ME!

Wow, life has been busy since my last post. I have discovered some wonderful things since I last wrote. One of them is a blog with wonderful recipes, and you can find that one at VeganDad Journal. He has a lot of nifty stuff on there, especially an easy recipe for vegan mayo. Why spend tons of money on a jar when it's so simple to make it at home. I am working hard to be a frugal vegan!

Something else I stumbled upon whilst looking for more interesting things to make and eat is Textured Soy Protein. I am not sure if it's similar to Textured Vegetable Protein, but this stuff ROCKS! I found this stuff at an Indian Grocery in an obscure part of town (as well as a stash of FourLoco for sale!) while looking for a spice mix for vegetable biryani, so I didn't have to buy and store tons of spices. Of course, it looks like I will have to do it anyways because the spice mix was a little too spicy for my wife... Initially, it reminded me of kibble, and I have to admit I was a little put off by that fact. It is now referred to as adding "human kibble" to a recipe in the house.

 I brought it home and while I was soaking the rice for the biryani, I decided to try it out, so I pulled a cup of "kibble" out of the bag, and reconstituted it with two cups of water. I was amazed at how it looked after soaking for 20 minutes. They actually looked  like cut up pieces of chicken. I threw them into the pan and sauteed them with the spices before adding the rice to cook them a little, then finished up with the rice. When the dish was finished I pulled one out and took a bite. They tasted like chicken, they had the texture of chicken, and they looked like chicken! It was an amazing and eye-opening experience, but do you want to know the best part? It didn't cost nearly as much as chicken would! The whole bag was $1.99! Since it's dried, and probably shelf stable until the end of time, I think I will go stock up on the stuff!

Also, something that I hope is vegan, but I am never 100 percent sure of these things being new to it and all, is Oreo cookies. I love those things, and thought I was going to loose them forever, until I read the back of the package. So... If they are not vegan, don't mention it to me, just let me enjoy my blissful ignorance. :D

Recipe Time!

Here is something I came up with yesterday. It's a little variation on a hummus recipe, and it was freaking delicious:

Spicy Black Bean Hummus

1-Can of black beans (low sodium), retaining the juice in a bowl
2 tbsp Sesame Tahini
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic, or more to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice, or more or less depending on taste
(These are estimates, I don't measure spices)
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Paprika

Basically, just throw it all together in a food processer except for the retained black bean juice. Process on high for 3-5 minutes, and close to the end, drizzle the retained juice in until you see the consistancy you want. I find doing this helps to make it creamy.