Their vegan pants are on fire...

I just found this article on the Huffington Post website. Apparently VegNews magazine was using pictures of (gasp!) REAL MEAT. I actually think it's pretty funny, but apparently some people were seriously upset. It's a short article, so give it a read and tell me what you think. Would this make you mad?


http://www.slashfood.com/2011/04/14/vegan-magazines-faux-meat-recipe-photos-actually-real-meat/

You can also check out the original article from quarrygirl.com here.

Beef Chili with Bob's Red Mill TVP

I don’t know about you, but I usually try to avoid eating things that sound like chemical compounds or plastic materials. Seems like a good rule to live by, right? I’m sure it is about 99% of the time, but this weekend I made an exception for TVP.

Even when you use it’s real name, Textured Vegetable Protein, is still doesn’t sound like something you’d want to cook with. But in fact, you do. At least I do. I’ve had recipes that use TVP over the years and experienced varying degrees of enjoyment (tamales were a winner!), but this was actually my first time preparing it and here’s why I think you’d like to cook with it too:

A) It’s inexpensive – I’m sure this would depend on where you got it and who made it, but my name brand Bob’s Red Mill TVP set me back two dollars and change at the local grocer, and it was a pretty good sized package. A can of the same amount of veggie ground beef would cost, oh I don’t know, five times as much?

B) It’s versatile: While Bob’s only makes one sort of TVP (ground beef-like in appearance), my local health food store sells several different versions, colored and shaped to look like various meat products. I’m guessing you can buy it pre-flavored as well, but Bob’s brand was ready to be whatever I wanted it to be, which was nice.

C) It’s healthy: This stuff is legit. Low in calories. Fat free. Only TWO mg of sodium (yeah, you read that right), while still packing in 4 grams of fiber, 12 grams of protein and 15% of your daily iron in just one serving.

I rest my case.

Now I know it’s not really chili season, but I had some tomatoes and beans to use up, and I figured it would be a foolproof way to test out the TVP for the first time. Luckily I was right. The textured vegetable protein made the chili hearty, but not heavy and the summer squash freshened it up while adding some nice color as well. It was a winning batch. Since I’d never used the TVP before, I started by preparing it according to the package, just to see what it was like. But for this recipe, just throw it into the water unless you’re curious like me.

Beef Chili with Bob’s Red Mill TVP

Serves 4-6

4 c water

1 c TVP dry

1 can black beans

1 small or medium onion, chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

3 Tbls vegetarian beef seasoning (I used McKays)

1 Tbls taco seasoning

1 large tomato, chopped

1 summer squash, chopped

1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

salt

In a large pot over medium heat, add water, TVP, beans, onion, garlic and beef and taco seasonings. Cook until onions are beginning to soften, stirring frequently.

Add tomatoes and squash and continue cooking for another five minutes or so.

Add cilantro, then taste and add salt to your liking.

Tips: Since the beef seasoning and taco seasoning are pretty salty, you may not need to add any

additional salt. My taco seasoning was hot, so I didn’t need to add any extra spice, but you can always throw in some minced jalapeno (or other hot pepper), red pepper flakes, or cayenne. If you don’t have taco seasoning (or don’t like using prepackaged goods), just use a combo of cayenne, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. It’ll get the job done. You can also add whatever other vegetables you need to use up. The more the merrier with chili (and most soups). Just be

sure to think about how fast they’ll cook and when you’ll need to add them.

What the WHAT?

So I just stumbled across this article on the online Huffington Post. Apparently someone can make fake chicken that'll fool ya. I don't actually know how I feel about that... Check it out!




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/07/fake-meat-vegetarian-chic_n_602967.html