TVP Stuffed Artichokes

It’s full on artichoke season here. Growing up, my mom would use Progresso Italian-flavored breadcrumbs to stuff her artichokes. Since I’m still on my low-carbish kick, I wanted to try substituting the magical TVP (textured vegetable protein) instead. It worked! The two corrections I’ll make for next time is to drizzle some butter on top instead of olive oil and to pulse-grind the TVP in the food processor for a few seconds to get the “crumb” size a little smaller. So yay! Stuffed artichokes can be and will be a part of our spring menu.

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TVP & Meat - Loaf

Many moons ago, I sang TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)’s praises and you haven’t heard boo from me about it since. Well, since Mr. Mari and I are trying to shed our Freshmen Ten, I pulled Ole Faithful out of the cupboard. The first thing I made was meatloaf, substituting the breadcrumbs for some TVP. Success! The meatloaf was super moist and flavorful (I soaked the TVP in chicken stock). Now I’m thinking about trying to use TVP as fried chicken breading. Stay tuned for that experiment! Meanwhile, click on over for some TVP & Meat - Loaf!

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textured vegetable protein aka dried awesomeness

When looking for low-carb grain options in the bulk section at Whole Foods, I came across this item. What is this 'textured vegetable protein' shtuff? Never heard of it AND it sounds very unappetizing. I'm sure to you vegetarians and vegans out there, it's old hat but to someone that normally seeks their protein from animals, this was a new one. Basically, it's made up of dehydrated soy beans that have been defatted, cooked under pressure and dehydrated. It's low in calorie, fat and carbs; high in protein AND it's gluten free. Go figure. For a dollar, I figured I could give it a whirl.

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