Decades ago, soya foods were one of the world’s best kept secrets. Finally, out of the closet and ready to jump into just about any recipe, soya protein can boost protein, calcium and the iron content of almost any dish. Go ahead and experiment by incorporating some of the following varieties into your meals and remember that unflavoured soya will take on any flavour you cook or marinate with.

Soya Milk. Start your day with a glass of soya milk or pour it over your cereals for breakfast. Soya milk provides about 4-10 grams of protein per one cup serving and can be found sweetened and unsweetened.

Soya Flour. Here’s another great way to build up your protein in your baked products. Soya flour can be used for with breads, muffins, and biscuits.

Textured Soya Protein also called textured vegetable protein. This is made from defatted soya flour and takes on a granular, flake, or chunk characteristic. TSP comes both plain and flavoured and can be mixed into chilli, veggie burger, tacos, vegetarian casseroles and stews.

Vegetable-type Soya Beans. These dry, mature soyabeans are loaded with protein. What’s more, they also contain fibre. Tasting both sweet and buttery, their flavour makes them a nice addition to stir-fry dishes, salads and soups.
Tofu. Just about anything goes with this soya protein. It’s made from soya milk curd and is a versatile replacement for meat. It is mainly sold firm in texture and can be bought smoked or unsmoked. It is good in stir-fried dishes and quiches.

You may not find these products readily in Supermarkets but what you will find are the ready prepared soya products. These include such things as Beanfeast, Veggie Bangers, Veggie Burgers etc. These are sold in dry packet form and you make the recipe up yourselves usually by adding water. Invariably these are low calorie soya based products which both vegetarians and meat eaters can enjoy.

Quorn
Quorn is a new meat free product not derived from soya. It is a myco-protein of a mushroom origin and has a chicken type flavour. Although suitable for vegetarians, it is not suitable for vegans as it contains egg white. It is low in fat and an excellent low calorie replacement for meat. It provides a good quality protein but it is not such a rich form as soya. Approximately it provides 13g protein per 100g. Quorn have a good range of convenience meals, which can be included in any of our diets. Just have it as your main meal of the day and always select a convenience meal of 300 calories or below. As with soya, Quorn takes on the flavour of sauces etc you cook with extremely well. So beware not to make your curries too spicy!

*Look out for new Quorn Lamb, tasty and very low in calories!