This delicious versatile vegetable crumble is perfect for those following a plant-based ketogenic diet. It’s easy to make and loaded with fresh veggies, perfect for a low carb diet. The highly nutritious recipe contains broccoli, green peas, and other vegetables. It also contains walnuts and sunflower seeds.
Related reading: Vegetarian Keto Diet | How does it Work?
Everyone will surely love this vegetable crumble recipe from Derek Simnett a Certified Nutritional Practitioner, including those not fond of veggies. It’s perfect for serving as part of a dinner with family or friends.
Related reading: Keto Vegetarian Recipes
If you have no time to cook it on the same day, you can make it ahead of time. You can serve it with a fresh salad or add it to your favorite low carb pasta sauce.
Textured Vegetable Protein
The base of this vegetable crumble recipe is Textured Vegetable Protein or TVP. TVPs are products to extend ground fresh meat to reduce the cost without reducing the recipe’s nutritional value.
In other words, it is a mock meat that contains protein and fiber. Textured Vegetable Protein is made from soy flour and has no fat or cholesterol.
TVP has no flavor of its own which is ideal if you want it to take on a particular flavor in a dish. But nowadays it is available in different flavors. You can still get the unflavored varieties if that’s what you prefer. They also vary in size and shape, from small flakes to large chunks similar to meat.
Since TVP is cheap and widely available, it is popular among those cooking on a budget. It is also a popular recipe for vegetarian and vegan recipes. TVPs are dehydrated products, so you need to soak them in water for at least 10 minutes before cooking.
Disadvantages of TVP
TVP is a highly processed food so not ideal from that point of view. it’s made by a process of extrusion which separates the soy protein from the other substances found in soybeans. It’s then compressed into various shapes such as flakes, chunks, nuggets and strips and then dehydrated
A solvent such as hexane may be used in the extrusion process There is concern that small amounts of the solvent may remain in the TVP.
Recipe Notes
If you cannot find Textured Vegetable Protein in your supermarket or don’t want to use it you can an alternative such as tempeh or tofu. Those not following a low carb diet can also use lentils or chickpeas.
You can use other nuts and seeds in place of the walnuts and sunflower seeds if you prefer of don’t have them to hand.
Carb content
Green peas can be omitted if you think that they will put you over your carb limit for the day. A half cup contains about 8.1 grams net carbs.
Related reading: What Are Net Carbs And Why Are They Important?
Maple syrup is optional because of the carbs it contains. Derek thinks that the dish tastes better when a little is added to give it a bit of sweetness so it’s up to you if you use it or not.
Soy sauce is controversial on a keto diet. It is low carb but may be made from GMO soy which some prefer to avoid. Also it may contain by-products of wheat and gluten. Organic Tamari soy sauce is gluten free and will not be made from GMO soy so you may prefer to use that.
I have tweaked the recipe as usual to specify organic produce which is healthier. I have also suggested Redmond Real Sea Salt as it does not contain microplastic fibers as regular sea salt does. Although we are apparently getting them everywhere it’s best to try to avoid them where we can.
How to use
Once cooked you can eat the crumble as is, sprinkle over the top of a salad, use as a keto pizza topping, add to a chilli, or a low carb soup.
Vegetable Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup TVP
- ½ organic red pepper
- ¼ organic red onion
- ½ cup organic green peas
- ½ cup organic broccoli
- ½ cup organic walnuts
- ½ cup organic sunflower seeds
- 1 organic green onion
- 2 tsp soy sauce (or organic tamari soy sauce)
- 2 tsp good quality maple syrup (optional)
Seasoning Blend
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 5 tsp smoked paprika
- 5 tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp Redmond Real Sea Salt
Directions
- Soak the Textured Vegetable Protein in two cups of filtered water and set aside for ten minutes to allow it to soak.
- Meanwhile place all other ingredients in a food processor except the seasoning blends.
- Add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika, and salt to a bowl. Mix well and put aside.
- Pour the soaked TVP into a strainer and squeeze out the excess water.
- Transfer the TVP to a bowl. Add half the seasoning blends and a teaspoon of soy sauce. Mix well.
- Add the rest of the seasoning to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse to mix the ingredients well then add the seasoned TVP. Add a teaspoon of maple syrup (optional). Pulse the processor again a few times to make sure all ingredients are well combined.
- Transfer the vegetable crumble to a large baking pan with a silicone liner or baking parchment and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F-375°F/176°C-190°C. Turn the mixture over once at the 20-minute mark. It should be nice and crispy but not burnt.
- Serve and enjoy!
Here’s Derek’s video demo of this versatile recipe:
