MOFO - Day 7 - Giveaway Day and TSP/TVP

THE WINNER OF THE REDRAW IS #5 SARA FROM BUSY VEGAN MAMA BLOG! CONGRATS SARA!!

Welcome to day seven of MOFO 2011. Today we're going to chat a bit about another convenient soy protein source: TSP (textured soy protein) also called TVP (textured vegetable protein). It is made from defatted soy flour that is compressed and processed into small chunks. It is also sold in larger pieces called TVP Chunks. This is good for stews and soups. Both types are shown below.

Rehydrated TSP/TVP is a fantastic substitute for ground beef in many recipes. It is super easy to rehydrate. All you have to do it heat up water or broth to boiling, pour it over the TVP, let it sit for 10 minutes and you are ready to start cooking. On its own it has very little flavor, but it will readily take up the flavor of any liquid or flavoring it is cooked with. Here is the really good news: each 1/2 cup serving has 24 g of protein and less than 1/2 g of fat! Now that is a huge difference from ground beef. Extra lean ground beef has a whopping 9 g of fat per 3 oz. TVP = 0 cholesterol per serving, ground beef 74 mg of cholesterol. The numbers don't lie. If you are concerned about your fat and cholesterol intake, consider trying this out in some of your ground beef recipes.

As promised, today I will be giving one lucky follower a chance at winning The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet by Joni Marie Newman. This book is full of round patties of every variety (101 varieties to be exact). The traditional burger takes on all sorts of incarnations in her fun and creative book. Seriously...there are breakfast and dessert burgers in there! She also includes some yummy side dishes so you can make a complete meal from one book. Included are some great condiments and even a dessert section.

Joni even gives a little lesson how to re-hydrate TVP...how convenient! I decided to go a bit more traditional for my first recipe from the book. It features...go figure...TVP as the main protein. It is used in two different ways: as Imitation Bacon Bits (pg. 185) and as the main protein of the Bacon Cheeseburger (pg. 89) itself. I also started to make the Quick and Simple BBQ Sauce (pg. 183), but it wasn't my thing, so I doctored it up quite a bit. BBQ sauce is very subjective, but I found to be out of balance somehow. But getting back to the burger, there are three protein sources in the burger: TSP, vital wheat gluten and peanut butter. This is certainly an unorthodox combo, but it works. The texture is really firm and chewy, in the very best way. I cooked it on my griddle pan, but this burger would work beautifully on the grill. We served it topped with a grilled onion slice, tomato slices, spicy pickles and lots and lots of BBQ sauce. It takes a bit of time if you make your own bacon bits and BBQ sauce, but if you made those ahead of time, these come together pretty quickly. I'll make these again for sure!

Here is the moment we've all been waiting for: giveaway time! To be eligible to win all you have to do is be a follower of the blog and make a comment about anything burger related on this post by 11pm MST today! The winner will be selected by random.org tomorrow morning. Don't live in the US? That's OK, you can win too! Good luck and good eating!!!