Awesome Veggie "Chicken" Nuggets

I really hate the title of this post. I'm not trying to fool anyone, there was no chicken in the food I made tonight. But if I say "TVP Nuggets," this dish doesn't sound appetizing at all!

Texturized vegetable protein, or TVP, is a meat substitute that I've recently become acquainted with. A student first mentioned how wonderful it is, and then MikeDub brought me lunch one day at work from Veggie Heaven. Not knowing where the lunch had come from, I actually CALLED him concerned I'd received pork by mistake!

TVP is dry, and can be bought in the bulk food section of HEB. The nice thing is, it really takes up the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Well, tonight was my first night cooking with this type of protein and I am really impressed. I based this recipe off of a chicken dish that I make that's really popular with my friends. (It's a pan-cooked chicken recipe from Kapes' momma's kitchen, actually.) I made the mediallions small (don't be fooled by the picture—they're on a mini plate), as I was having trouble with the nugget falling apart when I tried to make them bigger. I was happy with the result, and I ended up picking them up with my fingers and dipping them in Stubb's BBQ sauce.

Veggie Nuggets

Nuggets
3/4 cup water
1 cup TVP
1 egg
Salt and pepper
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion flakes (or powder, I only had flakes in the pantry)
Accent to taste (cause MSG is awesome and tasty! Although MSG has a bad rap, my analysis of the studies makes me believe it is truly OK for humans. Just use more salt if you have a hang up with MSG and don't complain about your blood pressure...)

Breading
2 tbsp. rolled oats
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. cornmeal

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a frying pan. Mix all of the dry seasonings with the TVP and then add the water (boiling). Mix well, and then stir in the egg. Shape the TVP mixture into nuggets (I used my hand and a tablespoon). Drop into the breading mixture and coat on both sides. Pick up the nugget with the spoon and transfer it to the pan with olive oil. Cook each side until browned (I had to add a bit extra olive oil when I flipped the nuggets). Serve with BBQ sauce.

Tofu Fried Rice

Tofu
Vegetable Oil
Cooked rice (leftover rice is perfect for this!)
2 Eggs (optional)
Green onions, chopped fine
Salt (optional, to taste)
Veges - be creative! Personally I like to use scallions and carrots (sliced thin with the peeler), and this time I added in baby corn and mushrooms. Try something new and comment–I'm always looking for ideas

1. Heat about a half tbsp. of vege oil on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add in the eggs and stir so that they're almost scrambled. Remove the eggs and set aside.

2. Brown the tofu on all sides (you may need to add about 1 tbsp. oil). There are some good pics of this in MikeDub's pad thai post. He's the one that sold me on tofu by cooking it up this way.

3. Remove the tofu and set aside (I put it in the same bowl as the egg).

4. Add about 1 more tbsp. oil to the pan and fry the rice. Put in the vegetables (except the green onion). Stir on medium to medium-high heat, until rice just begins to brown and vegetables are tender.

5. Add the tofu and egg back in to warm, stirring frequently. During the last minute of cooking, add the green onion.