"B"LT with Avocado and Broccoli Picnic Salad

OK, this isn't really a February-type meal. When I was dishing it all up Ben said, "Is it summer?" Hmph. I wanted to try the smoky soy curls from Vegan Diner! I couldn't help it!

So, what you do with soy curls is rehydrate them in hot water + seasonings for ten minutes, and then you cook them however you want. In this recipe, you add soy sauce and liquid smoke to the rehydration water, then squeeze the liquid out, add more liquid smoke and soy sauce, and saute them for 5-10 minutes, until they're as browned as you like. Then add some agave for sweetness and saute another minute or so. Whoo boy, they are DELICIOUS. Soy curls are by far the meatiest thing I've eaten since I quit eating meat - the texture is actually chewy, like actual meat would be. It's sort of disconcerting, really.

Anyway, here is the sandwich I made with them. Soy curls, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and Vegenaise.

It was STELLAR.

I also made a broccoli salad on the side, based on a recipe from American Vegan Kitchen. I thought the dressing (Vegenaise/agave/apple cider vinegar) was a little thin and I will probably use a higher Vegenaise ratio next time, even though that makes it less healthy.

The soy curls are living up to their reputation. They are GOOD. We had some leftovers that I ate cold from the fridge the next day and I had to stop myself from eating the whole batch in one go. I hope they're available in stores around here sometime soon!