Friday 23 October 2009

The impossible is now possible.


OK, maybe not impossible. I've blogged at least once about the V'con Chickpea Cutlets. They're possibly one of the greatest creations in food history - a quick, easy, relatively cheap, cruelty free meat substitute that tastes amazing. They're a combination of chickpeas, breadcrumbs, vital wheat gluten, water, herbs, and spices.

The way I do mine, I use my food processor to blend together everything but the breadcrumbs and vwg, and I always think, this is a lot like hummus. Well, I made hummus yesterday, and I made a lot - more than Mike and I could reasonably eat before it would need to be disposed of. Tonight, laziness and curiosity coalesced into an even faster and possibly lower-fat version of Chickpea Cutlets. I combined my homemade sun-dried tomato hummus with vwg and the V'con herbs and spices, and the results were positive. I give you:

Lower-Fat Hummus Cutlets

3/4 c prepared hummus (preferably homemade)
1/2-3/4 c vital wheat gluten
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried sage

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add additional vwg if your hummus is particularly liquidy. Knead for a few minutes until gluten strings form. Cut or tear apart and form into cutlets. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. (Mine were slightly underdone at 20 minutes, so a bit longer should've done the trick.)

I don't really have a nutritional breakdown or comparison. I only assume these are slightly healthier because my particular homemade hummus was lower in fat than traditional hummus, and I left out the breadcrumbs (which can contribute significantly to both fat and carbohydrate counts). I guess you could add in some breadcrumbs to make them more stable, but even slightly underdone, mine were fine.

UPDATE: Here's the picture of the cutlets with boiled potatoes, steamed broccoli, and instant gravy

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