Have you ever heard of TVP? Vegan and Gluten Free Chili

Hi again! Have you ever heard of TVP? It’s texturized vegetable protein and if you’re cooking for a vegan it’s great to have around. My daughter has made vegan shepherd’s pie and I’ve made vegan manwiches, chili and American chop suey (it’s a New England comfort food and always tastes better the second day!) One thing you have to realize is that not all TVP products are gluten free. If you pick up a package of morning star crumbles in the freezer aisle you will see on the ingredient listing…wheat gluten and if you look at some of the Boca burgers you will see that they have eggs in them which is not vegan. You really have to look at all the ingredients on the package, every package, all the time just to make sure you’re not getting something you don’t want in your food. Just want to let you know that when you think something probably doesn’t have wheat gluten you could be very wrong. Look at a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup. Guess what you’ll find in there…wheat gluten. They use it as a filler and it’s in most of the nationally known brands of soup like Campbell’s and Progresso. I like to use Amy’s Organic Soups. The cream of tomato tastes just as good, if not better than Campbell’s. My 6 year old grandson thinks so too. Always, always, always read those labels.   Getting back to the TVP…When you’re working with TVP you’ll find that it takes on the flavors of whatever you are adding to it sort of like tofu. I use the Bob’s Red Mill brand and I buy it at my local supermarket but you can get it in bulk at a health food store. It has to be reconstituted before you use it in your recipe and for some reason ketchup helps the process. If you are using a cup of TVP flakes you add 1 tablespoon of ketchup and one cup of boiling water…wait about 10-15 minutes and you’ll have your reconstituted TVP that you can add to your recipes. Here is the recipe I use for the Vegan and Gluten Free Chili…it’s low in fat because you’re not using any meat and high in protein because of the TVP and Kidney beans. Put 1 cup of TVP flakes  and 1 Tablespoon of ketchup in a bowl. Pour 1 cup of boiling hot water over it and stir. Let this sit for about 10-15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the chili. Heat a large stew pot for a minute or 2 and then add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I use a Teflon coated pan. If you are using a non Teflon pan you may want to increase the olive oil a little bit. Add 1 chopped yellow onion, 1 green bell pepper chopped (if the green peppers make you too gassy then use a red bell pepper. It’ doesn’t take away from the taste of the chili whatsoever) 2 cloves of garlic chopped and a small can of green chilies. I use the Old el Paso brand.  Stir occasionally and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. You want the onions to be translucent and the peppers a little soft. While you’re waiting for that to cook you’ll want to season the TVP. To the bowl of TVP add: 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Chili Powder 1 tsp cumin 1 teaspoon oregano 2 teaspoons basil 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Sprinkle these over the TVP and stir. Then add the TVP to the pot, stir it all together and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Then stir in: 2 14oz cans of tomatoes (I use the DelMonte diced with garlic and onions. You don’t have to add extra flavors with the tomatoes but it’s the way I like it and sometimes I use 1 can of garlic and onion tomatoes and one can of the basil and oregano tomatoes) 1 16oz can of kidney beans ( I use the small kidney beans but you can use the large ones if you prefer) Cover and simmer this for about 30 mins to 1 hour. Taste and add salt if you need to. At this point sometimes I add a little more chili powder especially if it’s going to be just for adults. About 15 minutes before it’s done add a 16 oz pkg of frozen corn or 1 can of corn. It adds a little sweetness to the chili. There you have it. A vegan and gluten free dish. I bring this to parties with corn tortillas (make sure you read the labels on these too! They try to sneak fillers in some of the brands) and I have been asked for the recipe many times over by people that are neither vegan nor gluten free. This can be frozen and heated up at a later date. It doesn’t take long and it tastes great. I hope you enjoy this recipe. I’ll be writing about gluten free pastas next time and I’ll include my American Chop Suey recipe.   Till then, Love, Grammy Deb