seasoned "meat" for a quick, healthy, delicious taco night!

after sloppy joe night, a friend asked "what else can i do with this tvp?" oh where to even begin...?

one of my fondest childhood dinner memories was taco night!!! - my mom would make all of the fixins and have the entire table be a build-your-own taco station. shredded lettuce here, diced tomatoes there, refried beans, seasoned ground beef, cheese, sour cream, rice, guacamole, taco shells and burrito wraps...and nachos!! (no wonder i was a chubby kid) my mom was amazing - she'd spend hours in the kitchen getting everything ready.

let's be real: everyone loves taco/burrito night. 

rather than slave in the kitchen for hours a la worlds best mom, take this shortcut to have healthy, homemade, flavorful, really quick ground "meat" without defrosting (did you plan the day before to crave tacos? me neither) the texture is a dead ringer for ground meat and the flavor is...well the flavor is all the seasonings we use- delicious!

see the "hints" for ideas on your other super easy taco night items...

note: you need a shallow pan with a lid

ingredients and tools. seasonings from left to right: black
pepper, liquid smoke, ground cumin and smoked paprika.
TVP in the back, onion and garlic on front left. that bad
in the front, that's the microplane. 

ingredients:

- 1 tbsp oil (any kind, vegetable, olive, etc) 

- 1/2 average onion, diced approx. corn kernel size (white, yellow, red onion - doesn't matter)

- 3 cloves garlic, minced or microplaned

- 3/4 tsp salt

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1/4-1/2 tsp ground pepper (i used 1/2...very spicy. i like it, but some may not. start with 1/4 and you can always add more later)

- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (again, smoked paprika - if you got it for tomatoey rice or sloppy joes, you know how good it is, and you have plenty leftover)

- 1 + 2/3 cup water

- 1 tsp liquid smoke (remember that from the sloppy joes also?)

- 1 cup TVP (you should know this from sloppy joes, lasagna or originally explained in fauxlognese sauce)

what to do:

1. prep: measure out all your dry spices (salt, cumin, pepper, paprika) put them in a little bowl, chop up you onion and garlic, measure out your water and liquid smoke - combine those in a bowl and set aside, measure your tvp. this goes fast so now you'll be ready.

2. get a pan heating up over medium heat - add your oil, onion and garlic. let those saute for 5 minutes (add your dry spices halfway through those five minutes) - you should see your onion go from white to translucent - your garlic might turn brown and stick to the bottom of the pan! relax. don't let it burn (turn black and smoke - duh) but it's ok if it browns some - stir it a couple times while sauteing to help prevent sticking and promote even cooking. 

3. now you have a kinda dry, slightly brownish-red (from the paprika, cumin and garlic -it's ok) onion mess and your pan is a little gritty. add the water/liquid smoke (remember fancy-pants, we're deglazing - you just got all those yummy little brown bits and caramelized garlic off the bottom of the pan) give everything a gentle stir - try to make sure everything came up off the bottom of your pan.

4. add your TVP - stir it and cover your pan with the lid right away - you don't want much moisture escaping through evaporation, you want that TVP absorbing it. 

after simmering for 5 minutes

5. let it simmer for about 5 minutes. after 5-ish minutes, turn your heat off, give it a stir and taste some (it's hot, be smart) is the TVP chewy and soft? it should be, if it's not but all the water is already gone - add another 1/4 cup, stir and put your lid back on for  - you don't even need to turn your heat back on. if it's not soft and chewy and there's still water in the pan, put the lid back on and back off for 5 minutes - it'll likely absorb. worst case scenario: if there's still water in the pan and it's already soft and chewy, don't try to pour the water out - that water has all our flavor in it! turn your heat back on medium and let your TVP simmer for another couple minutes while you stir - the water will cook out and the flavor will stay. 

basically - don't panic, this is kinda hard to screw up, we can fix it.

6. your done - make sure the seasoning is to your liking and enjoy! so easy right?!?!? it'll keep in your fridge for about a week and can easily reheat in your microwave, which makes for stellar leftovers.

hints:

- technically, if you are really intimidated by seasonings, you could get "taco" seasoning and just use that. no shame in doing it...but you could just buy frozen "crumbles" too...the whole point is to build your repertoire of basic ingredients that can go into tons of different easy meals. cumin can go into central and south american, and indian flavor profiles. smoked paprika also goes into our sloppy joes - you might not realize it, but you're getting more familiar with what goes into the flavors you already love, making them easier to understand and recreate. so use the seasonings. you'll also start to appreciate what each one tastes like, so if you like more cumin and less paprika - you can change that! i always recommend smelling your spices before you combine/use them - especially with the ones in this recipe, you'll smell them and go "omg, this is that taste i love!" and that makes you smarter, cooler, more likable and ultimately a better human being...too much? moving on...

-  as always - everyone doesn't need to go vegan or vegetarian - i'm not soap-boxing here. but also "as always" - i encourage everyone to try this with TVP because it's really good for you, so easy to make, requires no freezing/thawing like meat, and it doesn't go bad so you can always just have a bag or 2 in your pantry - especially now that you are seeing how much you can do with it! 

- i mentioned other taco night items - i'm not going to go into each recipe - but here are some ideas for rounding out your simple, quick , healthy taco night:

   ~either buy a can of refried beans, or get a can of black or pinto beans and toss them in your food processor. simply stir them with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice and some salt and pepper. taste before salting though as some canned items are high in sodium already! heat in the microwave of a pan - or have them at room temp if you don't care!

   ~cut some lettuce and dice some fresh tomato as a topping

   ~open a can of corn, drain it of the canning liquid (or microwave-thaw some frozen - like that frozen roasted corn from trader joe's i mentioned in last week's corn chowder!) add a little lemon juice, diced fresh onion and some chopped cilantro. use this as a topping also!

even just with those items, can you see yourself with some soft or crunchy taco shells making a couple for dinner? smokey, spicy "meat", thick savory spread of beans, fresh crunchy lettuce and tomato and tart fresh corn mix?! yes yes yes. 

   ~if you wanted to be a superstar, or course, you could have make some rice as well...tomatoey rice...hint hint, would be perfect.

- don't limit this to tacos and burritos! i love to use this to make low fat 7 layer dip (i'll have to post that concept later - a friend at a party came up to me and said "what are you doing eating that?! that's not vegan!" mwah-ah-ahhhhh - it was.

nutritional facts:

recipe yields about 2 cups. serving size 1/3 cup:

calories: 81

fat: 2.3g

saturated fat: 0.2g

cholesterol: 0mg

sodium: 294mg

carbohydrates: 6.4g

fiber: 3g

sugar: 2.5g

protein: 8.1g

vitamin A: 0%

vitamin C: 2%

calcium: 6%

iron: 10%

"rich" and "creamy" corn chowder

"oh you like the soup? yeah, it's homemade. nbd." 

sure you can buy soup - i mean, the soup aisle at the grocery store is a shiny mecca of thousands of gleaming cans and promises...but as always, i think people should know just how easy this can be to make at home. plus - i hate waste, and this particular soup has bailed me out a couple times when i buy a couple potatoes swearing i'm going to eat them...then a week later they're looking a little haggard and the idea of waiting for a baked potato for dinner bores me to tears. this recipe doesn't call for anything terribly out of the ordinary, so about 25 minutes and a couple pantry items later you have a fantastic "comfort" soup - kinda thick and seemingly creamy, really savory, and dense enough to be a meal - though not heavy so a cup makes a great appetizer or side. i also really like that there's no iron-clad flavor profile for this soup - we'll talk variations so you can make it to your taste and not have to go out and buy specific seasonings.

ingredients:
- 1/2 tbsp oil (any kind will do - veg, olive, etc)
- 6 baby carrots (or 1 average carrot) diced - which might sound tough when carrots are round - just cut them in half length-wise so they have a flat side to sit on, then cut them - size isn't important here because we're going to blend this
- 2 celery stalks cut up - like the carrot, size doesn't matter much since we'll be blending it
- 1/2 average onion same - cut size doesn't matter, nor does onion size - more or less would still be dang good...i prefer more rather than less :)
- 3 garlic cloves diced (it came to my attention that i might want to specify - "cloves" are the little sections in that harder, dry skin within a head of garlic. don't use 3 heads of garlic...unless you really like garlic)
- 1 + 1/2 tsp salt (if you want to be really good - use 1 tsp...i'm a sucker for salt...i use 1 + 1/2)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp thyme (remember, we'll talk about different seasonings - don't run out and buy thyme just yet)
- 2 cups water
- 2 average potatoes skinned and chopped into bigger chunks (the kind of potatoes you use to make baked or mashed potatoes - the larger, brown-skinned kind we are all used to - not the little guys or purple ones or anything)
- 1 + 1/2 cups soy milk (make sure you don't have vanilla flavored! most will specify "plain" for unflavored ones. you can also use cow's milk, though there's more fat/saturated fat/cholesterol in cow's milk - you could use skim also - just note that will thin your soup a little more. almond milk would also work well)
- 1 + 1/2 cup corn (i often use canned corn, and you can definitely just round up to 1 whole can to make it easier - just make sure you drain the liquid out first! frozen corn also works really well - neat tip: trader joe's sells bags of frozen, roasted corn that lends a nice smokey flavor!)

the size of my potato pieces

what to do:
1. prep - cut up your veggies and garlic, skin you potatoes and chop them up - when it comes to your potatoes the smaller you cut them, the faster they'll cook, not that you need to mince them - just cut each in at least 8 pieces
2. in a medium pot, get your oil heating up over a medium fire. add your carrot, celery, onion and garlic. simmer for about 5-7 minutes. as usual - we're not really looking for browning, you want your onion and celery turning translucent. stir them 2 times while cooking - you don't need to be compulsively mixing - you're just making sure everything gets cooked.

step 2 as it's done

3. toss your salt, pepper and thyme in and stir again
4. add your potatoes and water, give it a little stir to make sure nothing stuck to the bottom of your pot. turn your heat up a little (medium-high fire) and cover your pot. the point here is your cooking the potatoes. should take about 10 minutes. do not over think this - it's ok if it boils - just make sure it's not outta control.
5. check your potatoes by poking the biggest piece with a fork or knife - if it feels soft (would you be able to mash it with a fork?) turn your heat off.
6. i recommend you let this cool before blending it to avoid scalding hot liquid spattering on you. if you're confident and live on the edge (like me, obvi) don't wait, but be very careful while you use a ladle or spoon to scoop out the chunks into your food processor or blender (either will work for this) then pour some of the liquid into the blender/processor as well. you'll likely need to do this in batches, just make sure each batch has a combo of chunks and liquid so it'll blend easily/smoothly. if you use a blender, be careful! if you put the lid on tight and the ingredients are hot - when you take the lid off it might spatter or a gust of steam will rush out the top. do not put your face over the top when you open it. idiot. also, open the lid, using a towel or potholder, away from you to let that steam out. if you use a processor there should be a little hole to let steam escape, but use a towel/potholder when taking the lid off also.

blended mix from step 7

7. blend until smooth - it can get really smooth. let it go for an entire minute (doesn't sound long, but watch the clock, it is) this should get creamy smooth and kinda thick - as each batch is blended, pour it into a large tupperware container (don't pour it back into your pot when there's still chunky stuff in there waiting to be blended)
8. once it's all blended, rinse your pot to get any little chunks out and pour the soup back into your pot. put that over a medium heat again and stir in your soymilk/milk. at any point here, add your corn. make sure at this point your don't boil your soup - you don't need to in order to incorporate the soymilk, and if you were to accidentally let it boil for too long, it'll "break" or separate - the milk will will get chunky. ew. don't get scared because i said that! it won't happen as long as you don't violently boil the poor soup for 5 minutes straight. you don't want to do that to any soup really - but canned soups have a bunch of weird emulsifiers and crap to help stop this from happening.

step 8 complete! we have soup!

9. taste your soup - good? probably. if it's not exactly to your taste - add some salt or pepper. (i like a lot of pepper because the corn is kinda sweet - nice contrast)

hints:
- i considered underlining the main points of each step in this recipe for people who are more comfortable cooking. you could likely follow just the main points and know how to make this recipe - but it got a little messy looking and confusing. i go in depth in each step on purpose so people who are not adept at cooking can make this as well. i bet if you're a pro it might seem a little long-winded, so just read through the whole thing once - it'll take about 3 minutes of your life. you'll probably get the idea. but the explanations are there for those who need them - and please ask if anything is unclear!

- you can make this soup and store it in tupperware in the fridge for a week - hi, convenient dinner. when reheating this soup - you can do it in the microwave or a pot - either way, the concern in step 8 ("breaking" or separating) is still there. it's not rocket science - just don't boil it or microwave it for a ridiculously long time. 1-2 mins microwaving for a cup of soup should be plenty!

- seasonings - so you don't have thyme? you know what i actually like even more in this? a bay leaf. if you have a bay leaf sitting around (it probably came with the generic spice rack assortment and you have no idea what the hell to do with it) add it when you add the water and potatoes - the flavor will release when you simmer or boil it. just make sure you remove it before you blend the soup! if you don't have either, use 1/2 tsp dried basil. i just don't highly recommend oregano or rosemary (also often lumped in the same family) as they can be a little strong and make it seem very attempted "italian" flavor. otherwise, if you don't have any of that stuff but you got garlic for this - just use an extra clove or 2! who wouldn't like a peppery, garlicky chowder?

-if you want your soup thicker or thinner - add more or less milk. duh.

nutritional info:
recipe yields about 4 cups soup - 1 cup is a serving. info per 1 cup:
calories: 205
fat: 4g
saturated fat: 0.4g
cholesterol: 0mg
sodium: 884mg (this is for the 1 + 1/2 tsp salt, that's why i say reduce it if you're watching your salt)
carbohydrates: 37.3g
fiber: 4.2g
sugar: 8.5g
protein: 6.3g
vitamin A: 46%
vitamin C: 25%
calcium: 18%
iron: 6%