Roasted soy curls with garlic and oregano
Marinate, roast, done. The chewiest, most useful plant protein in your cupboard.
The BetterDay Kitchen2 min read
Soy curls are one dried ingredient with one ingredient in it, and they do a very good impression of shredded chicken. This is the marinade we come back to: garlic, lemon, red wine vinegar, oregano and smoked paprika.
Rehydrate first, and do not skip it
Soy curls come out of the bag dry and brittle. They need 10 to 15 minutes in warm water to soften before anything else happens. Then, and this is the step people miss, squeeze them out properly. Wet soy curls will not take up marinade and will not crisp.
Marinate as long as you can stand
Thirty minutes works. Overnight is better. Because they are porous all the way through, they take flavour far deeper than a piece of meat would, which is genuinely their best quality.
Where to put them
- On a Greek-ish salad with cucumber, tomato, olives and red onion
- In a wrap with hummus and pickled onion
- Tossed in hot sauce for a buffalo situation
- Straight into the peanut stir fry sauce from this site
The recipe
Roasted Soy Curls with Garlic and Oregano
Soy curls rehydrated and marinated in garlic, lemon, red wine vinegar, oregano and smoked paprika, then roasted until crisp.
Prep
45 min
Cook
12 min
Total
57 min
Makes
Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
- 1/2 package Soy Curls (125 g)
- Warm water, for soaking
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Method
- 1Cover the soy curls in warm water and soak for 10 to 15 minutes until fully softened.
- 2Drain, then squeeze them firmly by the handful to get the water out. They should feel damp, not wet.
- 3In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, oregano, basil, thyme, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
- 4Add the squeezed soy curls and toss until every piece is coated. Marinate at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
- 5Heat the oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- 6Spread the soy curls in a single layer with space between them.
- 7Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until browned and crisp at the edges. To pan-fry instead, cook in a hot skillet for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- 8Serve hot, over a salad, in a wrap, or through a bowl.
Keeps
Up to 4 days in the fridge. Re-crisp in a hot dry pan rather than the microwave.
Chef’s note
We buy Butler brand soy curls. In Calgary you can find them at Community Natural Foods, and they are widely available online.
Rather not cook tonight
We make this kind of food every week.
See this week’s menuRead next
- IngredientsWhat are soy curls, and why we keep a bag goingOne ingredient. Whole soybeans. Not a fake meat, and better than most of them.
- RecipesCreamy peanut stir fry sauceMake a triple batch. A jar of this in the fridge turns whatever is in the crisper into dinner.
- IngredientsThe soy myths, and why we still cook with itSoy spent twenty years being the villain of the health aisle. The human research tells a different story.