And in the world of Interesting Vegan Food....

Ok...let's face it there is some weird food on this planet.  Not just weird Vegan food - which we will get to in a minute - but there is also weird food that's not Vegan.  

The egg for instance....somebody at sometime in our history had to say ... "Hey that round thing just fell out of that chicken's butt... let's crack it open and eat it!  Maybe we cook it maybe we don't!  We'll just figure it out as we go along!"

But there are some different/interesting/unusual/weird Vegan food too!

Here are just two I have stumbled across in my rookie Vegan lifestyle:

1. Nutritional Yeast -

***From Wikipedia:

"Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is sold commercially as a food product. It is sold in the form of flakes or as a yellow powder and can be found in the bulk aisle of most natural food stores. It is popular with vegans and vegetarians and may be used as an ingredient in recipes or as a condiment.

It is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins, and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten. Sometimes nutritional yeast is fortified with vitamin B12.

Nutritional yeast has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes. It is often used by vegans in place of cheese. It can be used in many recipes in place of cheese, such as mashed and fried potatoes, as well as put into scrambled tofu as a substitute for scrambled eggs. Another popular use is as a topping for popcorn."

***

- A complete protein?  How?  Who knows! It's food magic!

As I am typing this post at 8:20 am on Saturday morning and drinking a wonderful cup of coffee that I do not wish to taste like cheese I have not tried Nutritional Yeast yet.  But I do own some and I will try it before the weekend is out.

2. Primal Strips:

Two pictures because one just cannot explain it all.  I saw the Primal Strips ad in the back of VegNews .... and I thought "Kelly liked beef jerky....maybe Kelly like faux beef jerky"

In the interest of hopefully getting a really good blog post out I picked up all four flavors I could find at Whole Foods:

• Texas BBQ - which actually you can smell through the packaging - frightening! made from soy
• Hickory Smoked - also made from soy
• Teriyaki - made from Seitan*
• Thai Peanut - also made from Seitan*

What the is Seitan*?

***From About.com

Although it is made from wheat, seitan has little in common with flour or bread. Also called “wheat meat”, “wheat gluten” or simply “gluten”, seitan becomes surprisingly similar to the look and texture of meat when cooked, making it a popular meat substitute. Seitan is also high in protein, making it a popular protein source for vegetarians

***

You can also make Seitan at home....but we are so not to that point.  Keep it Simple!

I think my biggest .... uh ... hesitation with the Primal Strips is they appear be "wet" - please refer to the photo above

Once again I am drinking a wonderful cup of coffee and don't feel like BBQ yet but before the weekend is out - I will sample at least one flavor - and because I know you would love to see the look on my face when I do - I will have Husband take photos!

Peace!

~K