Soy Curls, North Alabama style...

When I am home alone, my meals get simpler. Today's lunch (and quite possibly dinner) is a soy curls sandwich with North Alabama white bbq sauce.

If you have not discovered Butler's Soy Curls, they are a wonderful and convenient ingredient. They are made from the whole soybean, and can be quickly rehydrated in the liquid of your choice. As they do not contain preservatives, we store them in the freezer to keep them fresh longer. For the recipe below, I simply rehydrated the soy curls in hot water according to the package directions, and then drained them well, pressing out any excess water.

The South is famous for debates over proper bbq sauce - should it be a thin brown vinegar-based stuff, or thick and ketchupy, or (heavens!) bright yellow from mustard? Hot or sweet or mellow? The true heretics in this matter reside in North Alabama, where bbq sauce is made from mayonnaise! As North Alabama is just over the border from Tennessee, we occasionally see this strange and delicious substance, which is traditionally used for poultry bbq. It is sometimes cooked onto the meat, or used as a condiment, or both. You can find it in jars, but, being mayo-based, it is always non-vegan. However, with the availability of excellent vegan mayo (such as Vegenaise), it is easy to make your own.

As this blogger rightly points out, there are only four essential ingredients: mayo, vinegar, salt, and pepper. However, other ingredients (especially horseradish) are often in the mix, and there is a contingent that strongly believes in lemon juice instead of vinegar. I have made the recipe in the linked blog post as written (only using Vegenaise instead of egg mayo), and it's really good - I encourage you to try it. But white bbq sauce lends itself to improvisation... a little white balsamic vinegar here, granulated garlic there, maybe smoked paprika on a wild day... insert finger, taste, adjust. Today's version went something like this:

1 1/2 cups Vegenaise (I used the grapeseed oil kind with the purple lid)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 T freshly ground black pepper
1 t salt
1/2 t granulated garlic
1 t prepared horseradish
1 t vegan worchestershire sauce

Mix thoroughly. Combine with rehydrated soy curls, and make a sandwich with a couple of crunchy pickles. Mmmm!