Boring Yumminess

My lunch today is not a photogenic one, so I'm opting out of a photo this go around. However, it IS a delicious concoction, and one that Andrew is completely responsible for inspiration wise. Thanks honey!

The main star of today's lunch salad (I'm so predictable... always salad!) is a new ingredient that I threw into my cart on the last grocery impulse buy shopping trip... So Soya+ Meat Substitute Slices. I've used TVP (textured vegetable protein) before, but only in "ground" form with things like sloppy joes, my famous "Redwall Pasty" and chili (I've also combined it with "real" meat as an extender... works very well to flesh out the meal and the budget! Yes, it's soy, no, it's not gross!). This was something that I wasn't too sure what I was going to actually do with it, but I was game to try anything new, tasty and my restricted-diet-friendly. I was really really glad that I took the plunge, though, and when a box gives you 6-8 servings and only costs $5, it's worth it!

Basically, what came in the package are dried out "chunks" of pure soy protein made from defatted soy flour, that you need to soak in hot liquid (be it broth, water, juice, etc) for about 15 minutes before you can use them. This is where Andrew gave me a spark of genious - yesterday when I first tore into the package and rehydrated it with some vegetarian "chickenish" broth for lunch (which he graciously agreed to taste test with me) he commented how adding some poultry seasoning would really amp up the flavour of the bits and make them a great base for a chicken salad sandwich. At the time it was kind of late (we got sidetracked browsing through Crappy Tire) and I didn't think we had any of the spice lying around so we did without, but he did make himself a "yummy, and really filling" sandwich on toast and I stir-fried my share up with a spicy teriyaki sauce. These are crazy filling, no word of a lie, and since they really soak up whatever flavour you choose for them the stir-fry worked nicely too.

Today I had more time on my hands (or stomach, as it were), so I was able to "pantry dive" - lo and behold, we actually did have (relatively fresh) poultry seasoning! Mixed with some simple boiling water, it was a great broth, and intensely flavoured the bits. After they had soaked and I drained them I set about making a dressing for my salad. It turned out to be a variant of one that I remember my grandma making once or twice to mix with leftover turkey after Thanksgivings, and it was awesome! I have sort-of measurements for the recipe today, and no nutritional analysis, but I know it's very low fat and reasonable with the calories (a generous serving of the slices is only 95 cals and is fat free), especially served over lettuce and fresh tomatoes like I did today. I'll probably stick this in a wrap for school later on this year, too.

Oh, and if you're in photo-withdrawl, here's Andrew's and my latest mini Roma haul. A bunch of that bowl's already gone, too... yay for tomatoes!

Chickenish Salad
Serves one
1 serving (35g dry) So Soya+ slices
Boiling water
Pinch poultry seasoning
Pinch salt
Lettuce - as much as you want
Tomatoes - ditto
1 tbsp (or thereabouts) Fat-Free Nayonnaise (yay USA shopping!)
2 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp cranberry sauce (I make my own with stevia in place of sugar)
Black pepper (next time I'll swap in horseradish... maybe wasabi!)

1. Put the soy slices into a bowl.
2. Combine the boiling water, poultry seasoning and the salt. Pour over the slices and let sit 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Shred lettuce and chop tomatoes, toss into a bowl (I sometimes add in dried oregano too)
4. Add Nayonnaise, mustard, cranberry sauce and pepper to the rehydrated soy, stirring well to blend and coat everything.
5. Add soy mix to the top of the lettuce and eat!

*Note: You can make the chickenish mix ahead of time and pop it in the fridge for later, make sure you add the mayo mix to it while it's warm, though - it soaks up the flavour better*

Thanks to a great note from Kitchen Flavours, I'm just in time to submit this post (albeit without a photo, sorry!) for Jihva for Ingredients: Soy, being hosted at Monsoon Spice. It's a new event for me, and it looks yummy!