Vegan Mofo Day 4: Soy Curls

When we moved to Portland last fall I had never heard of Soy Curls. It wasn't long before we became very familiar with them. A lot of the vegan friendly  food carts and restaurants use them in all sorts of dishes. They are dehydrated textured soy protein. They are so common here in Portland because they are made fairly locally, in Grande Ronde, OR by Butler Foods. (Use this link however to find out where to buy in other states!) They look like this when you get them:

The name sounded like some kind of snack to me when I first heard it. Out of curiosity, I popped one in my mouth to see how edible they are before you cook with them. It can be done and it's not awful but they are way better cooked. Here's our dinner with rice & leftover biscuits from the night before!:

 

If it had to be compared to meat, I suppose it's most like chicken in texture, but it's pretty refreshing that none of the packaging tries to make the comparison. As with most vegan protein options, it does its own thing, which is being really yummy!

P.S. Soy Curl became our nickname for our cat Lucy this week due to the picture of her curled up in her snugly cat bed!