First, the answer to the timeless question: will a useless mutt eat dry tvp?
Oh, yes.
I had no idea tvp (that’s textured vegetable protein if’n you didn’t know) was both controversial and commonly used in more foods than you might think. I just saw it at the market and thought it might mimic the texture of ground meat enough to scratch the itch I sometimes get for meaty goodness. I thought it was one of those meat substitutes that all the cool vegetarian kids were eating, like tempeh and tofu. I don’t have a touch for either tempeh or tofu, so tvp was next on my list.
But then Michael Pollan didn’t have anything good to say about it in Food Rules (“avoid foods created in a lab”), and Google University revealed that the US government is a the largest purchaser of tvp. It is used as an extender for “meat” served in schools. It is also used in many processed foods…so even if you aren’t a vegetarian, you have certainly consumed tvp. The Savvy Vegetarian looks into tvp closer than I intend to and concluded that the health benefits are dubious.
I dunno…it’s got to be better than this:
I think my mother plotted to feed this to Silas when we went to Boston last week. It was discovered in my cupboard and is not something I would ever purchase. I regularly ate this kind of stuff as a kid. Sure, it tastes good…but the sodium. My god man, the sodium! Two tablespoons have almost 30% of your daily allowance. My mother is suspicious of food that doesn’t come in boxes.
Now I sound all judgemental when I only wanted to talk about the awesome dumplings I made using tvp:
No recipe, I just added boiling vegetable broth to dry tvp (if I can find it in my unenlightened hometown, you can find it in yours). Then I sauteed cole slaw mix (find in with the bagged lettuce), chopped garlic and zucchini in olive oil with a splash of sesame oil and soy sauce. Sriracha is never a bad touch. Press into dumpling wrappers, steam, and voila! A vegetarian dumpling of questionable nutritional value. Tasty!
The Mudyard 