I just found these a couple days ago, and I really like them. (actually, I've used them forever, but not in this non-traditional way) If you have a health food store, look for the large size pieces of textured vegetable protein. If you can get them from a bulk container, they are VERY inexpensive!!
WARNING: Some companies 'fortify' their TVP, and the fortification seems to be all carbohydrates. I have only seen this on the tiny pieces, but check your labels on the big ones before you buy.
First, a quick little info piece. Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) is a soy product that is dehydrated. Proper use consists of reconstituting it with broth or water, but we're not doing that here. It is very low carbohydrate (1 per half cup) and high in protein.
The large pieces of TVP are about the size of a dime, sometimes even a little smaller. I would be thrilled if they were bigger, but they're not. Still, in their dry form, they make perfect little dippers for cheese based dips. They are very crunchy, with little taste of their own. The texture is 'different', but I adjusted to that fairly quickly.
I eat them plain, or dip them into cream cheese that is flavored w/marinated artichoke hearts and garlic (yum!). I don't know how they'd fare with salsa - I think they'd start to soften right away - but if you combined salsa and cream cheese, that would probably work fine. I bet they'd be good w/warmed nacho cheese too. . .
For a sweet snack, I lightly toasted some in butter, then tossed them with pumpkin pie spice and a little splenda. It's almost like eating dry cereal!! You have to let them cool all the way though, or they're not crunchy.
Seasoned ones might be good mixed in with nuts, for a sort of trail mix. They would 'lighten' the carb load and increase the protein at the same time. I hope someone here likes these little nuggets as much as I do. To me, they're the perfect little protein corn chip!!
-Catinhat
"Corn Chips"!!!!
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