Buffalo Soy Curl Hot Pockets

So the one week I decided to take off from the Cookbook Challenge has now gone into a second week. I have been beyond lazy lately, but I am back. Still kind of lazy but actually making an effort. Since it is now  halfway through the week I am going to wait until Sunday or Monday to get back on the Challenge Wagon. Just because I haven't actually been cooking anything worth writing about doesn't mean I haven't  been coming up with lots of awesome ideas though. Last night's Hot Pockets were one of them

Yes, Hot Pockets. I decided on this idea on the train after work earlier tonight. Last night I made Buffalo Soy Curl Pizza(the photos came out horrible so there will be no official post on that) and still had a bunch of leftover Buffalo Soy Curls, some Vegan Blue Cheese(see below for recipe) that I made, vegan cheese and pizza sauce. The only thing I didn't have already was dough. I didn't use a yeast based dough last night or tonight but only because I lacked the time and motivation to make one. Last night I used a basic yeast free pizza dough recipe, nothing special. Tonight I decided to change things up a little. To my basic pizza dough recipe I added a tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten just for shits and giggles. It actually produced a dough that when cooked was a cross between basic pizza dough and basic pastry crust.

After I divided and rolled out the dough and shredded the cheese it was time to assemble. I used a block of Cheddar from Galaxy Nutritional Foods. Normally for something like this I would use Daiya but I was all out. For the first time that I can remember actually using the Galaxy brand I was surprised at how much I like it. Don't eat it raw though, not good.

 I spread a thin layer of sauce on one side of each piece of dough(I don't like a lot of sauce), sprinkled that with some cheese, topped that with some buffalo soy curls with a few extra dashes of Frank's Red Hot and topped that with a little more cheese. Then it was time to fold, bake and consume!

The dough "rectangles" came out pretty rustic looking so when they were folded over they looked more like empanadas or mini calzones but I don't care, I am still calling them Hot Pockets!

They weren't very big but they were pretty damn filling. Delicious too! Vegan Blue Cheese is the perfect companion for these little guys. If you were a blue cheese dressing lover in your pregan days, you will love the recipe, I promise.

Hot Pocket Dough

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tblspn Vital Wheat Gluten

1 tblspn baking powder

1/2 tspn salt

2 tblspns olive oil

1/2 cup water. A few extra tblspns if needed

*Preheat 450*

1. Mix all dry ingredients in bowl and make a well in the center. 

2. Add remaining ingredients. 

3. Mix until combined into a dough

4. Knead 5-7 minutes until elastic. 

***You can be lazy like me and do steps 3 and 4 right in your stand mixer***

5. Dump dough onto floured surface and knead another minute or two, with your hands this time, to gauge if the dough needs more liquid or flour. 

6. Divide dough into 4 equal portions and roll each out into about an 8x6 rectangle. Don't worry if you can't get a perfect rectangle, mine didn't come close. 

7. Add toppings(whatever you would like) to one side of the dough, fold over, crimp shut with a fork and poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape. 

8. Bake about 15 minutes until they start turning golden brown.

Vegan Blue Cheese

1/2 cup crumbled firm tofu

 1 cup Veganaise or other vegan mayo
1/4 tsp tahini

dash of garlic powder

dash of lemon juice(literally just a dash)

dash of apple cider vinegar

1. Mix Veganaise, tahini, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and garlic powder until smooth. 

2. Mix in crumbled tofu. 

3. Serve with your favorite spicy buffalo foods and enjoy!

Ding Ding Ding, We Have some Winners!!

There are 3 different winners, each winning their own bag of Soy Curls! Congratulations to Momo, Brandy and Sara!!!!!!!!! I will be contacting everyone to get their addresses and will be shipping Thursday or Friday. I hope you enjoy them!

Soy Curls and a Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have heard so much about Soy Curls but had never tried them. Unfortunately they are not available at any stores in Massachusetts so I decided to order some to see what the craze is all about.  They are made from Non-GMO soy beans, have a good amount of fiber and tons of protein and the only ingredient is textured soy beans.

After finally trying them tonight I can see why everyone loves them so much! I was a little nervous at first. For the most part, I love analogues and TVP type meat alternatives but sometimes they are too much for me. Almost like they are "too real" and it skeeves me out. These looked like they might have been one of those things that I just can't handle but looks can be very deceiving. . .

They come dehydrated so you have to add them to warm water like you would with TVP and then they are ready to use however you please!

Rehydrated Soy Curls

 I went with one of the recipes included with my shipping receipt, Sweet and Sour Soy Curls. I had pretty high expectations for the Sweet and Sour part of the recipe because sauces like that are pretty damned good. I figured at worst, I would hate the Soy Curls and just pick them out and eat a plate of Sweet and Sour peppers and onions. And even that being worst case scenario, it wouldn't have been so bad. Anyways, I made the recipe as written except I sliced the onions into rings instead of chopping them and doubled the sauce ingredients. I like things pretty saucy! The only thing I will do differently next time is omit the salt. It calls for Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or soy sauce, and they both have a pretty salty flavor already. Other than that, I was really surprised and excited at how awesome and filling it was. The texture of the curls was slighty chewy bu very tender and they took on the flavor of the sauce immediately. This dish would be really great piled on top of some rice to make it more of a meal but I was happy with my plate of soy curls, peppers and onions. I can't wait to use them again!

Now on to the giveaway!

Dan Butler, of Butler Foods, you know, the makers of the delicious Soy Curls has very kindly donated 3 extra bags of the this little gem to be given away on my blog! Yay, my first giveaway!!!!!!!! Anyways, I will be giving 1 bag to 3 winners, unless you win all 3. Hey, it could happen. I will ship anywhere in the US or Canada (sorry overseas friends). You have 3 chances to win. Here is what you need to do:

1. Comment on this post with your favorite way to use Soy Curls. If you have never had them, tell me how you would use them. 
2. 'Like' VeganFoodRocks on Facebook and leave a separate comment on this post telling me you did so
3. Follow VeganFoodRocks on Twitter and leave another comment telling me you did so, with your twitter info.

Winners will be chosen by an online random generator on Monday January 31 at 7:00 pm EST. Results will be posted Tuesday morning so be sure to check back to see if you are the lucky winner! Please no anonymous posters, I don't want to have to hunt you down. Or worse, choose someone else!

Happy posting!!!!!!!