We are filing this dish under, “What dreams are made of.” This beautiful Moroccan Soy Curl Stew is bursting with delicious flavor and satisfying ingredients that are sure to make your belly very happy!  Warming spices, hearty sweet potatoes, tender soy curls, fire roasted tomatoes, sweet dried apricots and raisins, and so much more come together in the most delightful way. This delicious stew will fill the whole house with aromatic goodness and is sure to have everyone running to the dinner table. You just know it’s gonna be gooood!  Serve it over perfectly fluffy quinoa or rice for a fantastic meal that is sure to please!

Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.

Hi there, Ameera here!

This recipe is inspired from our Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew, which is our most pinned recipe on Pinterest, but with a few twists and turns.  It took me a while to get Mom onboard with trying soy curls.  She just couldn’t wrap her head around the concept of a “soy curl.”  Soy curls have been on our virtual white board for-EVER

This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.

Soy Curls

Have you tried them yet?  If you haven’t, then I’m sorry, but you are totally missing out. Seriously!  They are soooo good!  Think of them as a blank slate.  They take on whatever deliciousness you cook them in. The texture is somewhat “meaty,” think “chicken tenders,” but kind of chewy, and not as firm.  They soaked up the Moroccan spices in this dish, and it was AHHHH-MAZING!!!

Where to Find Them

We seriously could not find a single store in Northeast Ohio that carried soy curls, so we ordered them off of Amazon, but you can also buy them direct from their website. To be honest, we really didn’t know what to expect.  When they arrived, we couldn’t wait to see what they looked like.  They look similar to a crusty onion ring in the package.

They are dried out, but they soak up sauces, broths, liquids, etc. and create a perfectly tender and chewy soy curl at the end of cooking – yum!

Soy Gets A Bad Rap

Without getting into the nitty-gritty details… It’s true, soy typically has a bad rap. But I’d love to share with you some great research that has us doing our happy soy dance. Dr. Greger has a great article (here) about soy and how it contains (the confusing name called)  “phytoestrogens.”  Phytoestrogens, despite how closely it sounds to the words “estrogen” is not the same thing. In fact, soy is an extremely healthy and nutrient-dense plant protein that is a superfood for the body.

Additionally, all the WFPB doctors endorse soy as a great addition to the diet, and if you are looking for some more research, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Greger have some awesome articles. We’ve listed a couple here:

• NutritionStudies.org -“Soy… The Rest of the Story”
• NutritionStudies.org – “The Crucial Soy Link”
• NutritionFacts.org – “The Role of Soy Foods in Prostate Cancer Prevention & Treatment”
• NutritionFacts.org – “Should Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer Avoid Soy?”
• NutritionFacts.org – “Can Soy Suppress Thyroid Function?”

Spices, Spices and More Spices

Spices are the “spice of life!” Seriously, Dr. Greger heavily endorses the use of herbs and spices. Don’t forget to check that daily dozen box for this dish. Spices have so many health benefits that I could write a blog post dedicated to just spices. Don’t ever let an impressive list of spices divert you from making any dish. Plus, you can always adjust the spices to fit your own personal taste – win win!

If you are Whole Food Plant Based, then you probably already know that you will need a lot of spices to help boost flavor. Oil traditionally is a flavor carrier, so when not using oil, you will find that you need to ramp up spices to get that deliciousness to shine.  I’ll let Mom tell you more about spices and soy curls.

Hi! Robin here!

It’s true, I kept shifting the soy curl dishes downward on our virtual white board over and over again simply because I had no frame of reference for them, and I simply couldn’t wrap my brain around the soy curls.  The texture was like nothing I had ever eaten before, so it took me several minutes of keeping a very open mind before I could allow myself to fully enjoy them.

Once my brain processed the texture, I FELL IN LOVE! Seriously this dish immediately zoomed to the top of my all-time favorite dishes.  TP109 absolutely loved this dish and gave it a perfect 10.  He is always asking us to make this dish and insists that we make tons of soy curl dishes – which by the way, we are doing exactly that. *wink*

Don’t miss out!

Seriously, don’t miss out, have an open mind, and try this deliciousness.  If your brain can’t initially process the texture, keep eating it, after several minutes, you will fall in love! That is what happened to me, and I hope the same will happen with you, and you will love them too!

We would love for you to give this recipe a try! We just know you are going to love it.

If you try this recipe, we would love to know if you love it as much as we do, please leave us a review!

Also, check us out on Facebook and Instagram!

Products Used:

• Ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven, nonstick deep skillet, or similar large stock pot with a tight-fitting lid

Moroccan Soy Curl Stew

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 10 Minutes
• Cook Time: 30 Minutes
• Total Time: 45 Minutes
• Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Cuisine: Moroccan

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Description

We are filing this dish under, “What dreams are made of.” This beautiful Moroccan Soy Curl Stew is bursting with delicious flavor and satisfying ingredients that are sure to make your belly very happy!  Warming spices, hearty sweet potatoes, tender soy curls, fire roasted tomatoes, sweet dried apricots and raisins, and so much more come together in the most delightful way. This delicious stew will fill the whole house with aromatic goodness and is sure to have everyone running to the dinner table. You just know it’s gonna be gooood!  Serve it over perfectly fluffy quinoa or rice for a fantastic meal that is sure to please!

Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.

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Ingredients

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Ingredient:

• 1 cup finely diced red onion (about 1 small/medium red onion)
• ½ cup grated carrot
• 1 red bell pepper, fine dice
• 2 Tablespoons garlic, finely minced
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 ½ cups soy curls *
• 1 – 14 oz. can fire roasted petite diced tomatoes *
• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth *(see notes about ratio)
• 1 Tablespoon tamari
• 1 small sweet potato, small dice
• 4 dried apricots, chopped
• 1 heaping Tablespoon raisins
• ½ cup frozen peas

Seasonings/Spices:

• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion flakes
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¾ teaspoon coriander
• 1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch cinnamon (optional)

Other Optional Ingredients:

• Cooked Quinoa – “How to Cook Perfectly Fluffy Quinoa“
• Chopped Cilantro
• Squeeze of Lemon

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Instructions

1. In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, add the red onion, grated carrot and red bell pepper; sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.Add a tablespoon or so of water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
2. Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, add the tomato paste and dry spices (cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, dried minced onion flakes, black pepper, cinnamon, and sea salt), sauté to release their fragrance, about 30 seconds to one minute.
3. Then add the fire roasted petite diced tomatoes, veggie broth, tamari, and water, bring to boil, then immediately lower to a simmer.
4. Add the sweet potatoes, apricots, raisins and soy curls. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients, pushing the soy curls and sweet potatoes down into the mixture to ensure they are covered by liquid, then cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the peas and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. After 5 minutes (30 minutes total), test the flavors, add more spices, if necessary, to achieve the level of flavor you desire. Check the tenderness of the sweet potatoes, cook until sweet potatoes are tender.
6. Serve immediately over quinoa with freshly chopped cilantro and lemon if desired.

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Notes

*Vegetable Stock:   We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.  If using a brand other than Pacific that has a mild/mellow flavor, you may wish to use 2 cups broth and ½ cup water. 

*Fire Roasted Petite Diced Tomatoes:  If you can’t find fire roasted, you can substitute for regular Petite Diced Tomatoes. 

*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium.

*Soy Curls:  We found it challenging to find soy curls in our local grocery stores. We ended up buying them from Amazon. We purchased Butler Soy Curls 100% natural, no additives or preservatives, non-GMO, grown without chemical pesticides.  However, if you want to make this dish without soy curls, you can add 1 or  2 cans of your favorite beans.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Makes:  4 – 5 servings

*Storage:  Refrigerate, use within 7 days.

This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.