Following a vegetarian or vegan diet isn't as simple as restricting your consumption of animal products. Keep in mind that it will be difficult to obtain the same nutrients as if you ate meat, fish, or dairy, but by combining the right foods, such as textured soy protein, seitan, and tofu, among others, you can be perfectly nourished , despite common misconceptions. While it's true that vitamin B-12 is recommended in most cases , a nutrition expert should assess your individual needs and dietary requirements.
Until recently, being vegan or vegetarian wasn't well-regarded; even supermarkets didn't offer a wide variety of products to choose from. Tofu was the only option? Today, we can find everything from vegan burgers and sausages to vegan nuggets, which are usually made with textured soy protein, seitan , or, as mentioned, tofu.
They are foods that you can include in your diet even if you are an omnivore, they can help you create new dishes or reduce your meat intake if you want. We are going to discover what each of these foods is and which one provides a higher protein content.
Textured soybeans
Most of them use it as a meat substitute, since we can make bolognese, lasagna, meatballs, stews or hamburgers. Textured soy is an ingredient that is quite similar to the texture of meat, and that you will now be seeing in most supermarkets together with legumes.
What is it and how is it made?
Textured soy protein comes from soybeans, as its name suggests, and is a type of legume with over 5.000 years of history . It is also known as soy protein, soy meat, or textured vegetable meat.
Its process is quite striking and begins with the extraction of oil from soybeans, these defatted structures are dehydrated to make soybean flour and, in turn, the flour is extruded and the result is those "crumbs" called soybeans. textured and that are so versatile in vegetarian and vegan cooking.
Nutritional value
In plant-based diets, the amounts are very important, so we are going to detail the nutritional table of textured soybeans.
For every 100 grams of product, we obtain about 340 kilocalories, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 52 grams of vegetable protein, 14 grams of fiber, 1,2 grams of fat, and essential minerals such as sodium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and potassium. as well as vitamins of group A, B and C.
It has a much higher protein content than chickpeas , specifically about 52 grams of protein per 100 grams of product. Its nutritional values are excellent, making textured soy a high-quality carbohydrate.
So you can add it to the kitchen
Textured soy protein is very versatile, as it can be used to cook a variety of dishes, even those that aren't suitable for vegans and vegetarians. We can make burgers and mix it with lentils or vegetables, make vegan Bolognese , nuggets, meatballs, rice dishes, croquettes, breaded items, scrambled eggs with vegetables, and more.
What we always have to keep in mind is to follow a varied diet, the more variety of foods we have, the more complete and healthy our daily diet will be. We just have to avoid what we don't like, what makes us feel bad, what we are allergic or intolerant to, or what is not recommended for our health or age, as well as ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, and so on.
Seitan
Seitan is usually seen in any supermarket. Most sell it in preparations full of sugars and additives, and the best option is always to buy it in its original form and cook it ourselves.
What exactly is seitan?
This food is made of water and wheat gluten , and its texture is similar to beef. Many people eat it like steak or in small pieces in salads, mimicking chicken strips. It's important to add spices or homemade seasonings to give it the desired flavor; otherwise, it will be quite bland.
Being made with wheat gluten, people with celiac disease cannot, or should not, eat seitan. However, something positive about seitan is that a kilo of this product in its original state (without being a prepared dish) can cost us about 3 euros and we have enough quantity for several days and weeks.
Nutritional value
Obviously, it's not suitable for celiac sufferers, but it's precisely the gluten that provides about 20 grams of protein per 100 grams. The rest of its nutritional information includes 122 kilocalories, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of protein, 2 grams of fat, and no fiber.
And there its nutritional values end, since seitan does not have minerals or vitamins. Which makes it a very empty and unnecessary food, which is why it is always recommended that it not be the main ingredient of the dish, but that it be accompanied by vegetables and legumes, creating a dish full of color and nutrients.
Ideas for cooking seitan
Unlike textured soy protein, which is very versatile and nutritious , seitan is quite bland, thus limiting its culinary possibilities. Furthermore, it's a food that lacks flavor on its own, so adding a little seasoning will help.
some ideas are: seitan fillets with pepper sauce, stir-fried with vegetables, seitan breaded with cheese, as a filling in empanadas, salad ingredient, with lentils, rice with curry, seitan with broccoli and almonds, seitan with white rice and sauce mustard, aubergines stuffed with seitan and vegetables, etc.
Tofu
It is surely the food that is best known in the omnivorous environment, since it has been with us for years as one more ingredient in European and world cuisine.
What is it and how is it achieved?
Tofu itself is like the center of the beginnings of vegetarianism and veganism in the West, that is, another of the great substitutes for meat and is known as vegetable cheese because of its similarity to fresh cheese, and it has its origin in the Asian continent.
It is a product that comes from soybeans and is prepared by coagulating the soybean drink. Then it is pressed and the liquid part is separated from the solid. A process very similar to cheese of animal origin.
It has a completely neutral taste. This can be a real advantage because it will taste like what we want it to taste like, depending on whether we add spices or sauces (preferably homemade, which are healthier).
We can find it in different versions: soft or hard, the latter being more common in supermarkets.
Nutritional value
Tofu has a good nutrition table, due to soybeans, which is why tofu is just as good a choice as textured soybeans. For every 100 grams of tofu, we have: 70 calories, 1,7 grams of carbohydrates, 8,19 grams of protein, no fiber, no fat, and no cholesterol.
But it does have minerals and vitamins such as sodium, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium, vitamin K and vitamin B9.
Like textured soy protein, it's legume-based and its protein content is decent, though not very high—just 8g per 100g of product. However, it is low in fat.
Ideas for cooking with tofu
Preparing tofu involves meeting a series of requirements, otherwise we will have a paste in the middle of the plate with no flavor, no pleasant texture and a smell that does not help to be eaten.
Some ideas for using tofu in our daily lives include: tofu curry with potatoes, vegetable scramble with tofu and tomato sauce, tofu tacos, spicy dressings, using it in pizzas, soups and stews, grilling it, frying it or breading it with peppers and cheese , wheat tortillas with tofu, vegetables and sauces, tofu and vegetable skewers, scrambled eggs with textured soy protein, and using it to make vegan yogurt, puddings, ice cream, creams and smoothies.