This soy curl shawarma wrap is exactly what you want! Exactly what you need! As grateful as I am for the late-night quick vegan option just up the street (the falafel wrap from Shawarma King), it’s not wise to eat deep fried food often and this wrap definitely hits all the same notes while being substantially healthier, more affordable and it doesn’t take much more time to prepare than waiting for a pickup order does. It also stays great even when made in advance, perfect for traveling or meal prepping.

I’m just about to place my first bulk order (12 pounds! $_$) of soy curls and also sent my sister 2 packs since they’re pretty difficult to find, so I figured it’s the perfect time to post this somewhat long-awaited recipe. I introduced soy curls a bit in my White Bean Chili with Soy Curls post, but I wanna give them more love here. They’re really convenient, affordable (less than 50 cents/serving), are high in protein and fiber, incredibly high in potassium and are made from a sustainable crop. There’s a lot of anti-soy propaganda out there, like a mind-blowing amount, and as society becomes more informed to how mindless yet incredibly disastrous and abusive our food choices are, the rate of propaganda increases. There are endless bullshit articles about how tofu is ‘2x worse for the environment than chicken’ due to tropical deforestation to grow the soy beans. But…only about 5% of soy beans grown worldwide go to human food (with the rest being for animal feed), so I truly can’t even begin to explain how ridiculous that statement is (and even with practically all of soy grown going to animal feed, soy only accounts for 1% of Amazon rainforest deforestation, 80% is due to cattle ranching, and still I could spend all day linking to articles from the likes of the Huffington Post or Business Insider trying to convince you tofu is worse than meat for the environment. The meat industry has deep, deep pockets). Soy beans, and all legumes, are nitrogen fixing, meaning farmers need to use less fertilizers, and they also leave behind a residue in the soil attracting more diverse bacteria and fungi microbes, making the soil all around them healthier for years to come. To say soy products, like tofu and soy curls, are an all-around smarter choice is a huge understatement.

Ok, while I’m here, one last thing to illustrate the ridiculousness of anti-soy propaganda: everyone’s probably heard that eating soy raises estrogen and turns dudes into soy boys with man boobs, right? Well, not only is soy full of phytoestrogens (plant estrogen) and not mammalian estrogen (like that found in dairy cheese and milk, which anti-soy propaganda promotes people to consume instead), making it a non-issue, the plant that has the most and strongest plant estrogen (50 times more potent than soy) of all is..hops! And while beer is widely considered one of the most manly man things you can consume, with 99.9% of the commercially available ones contain hops, drinking soy milk will make your tits bigger. Okay…

High soy consumption actually decreases estrogen, lowering your risks of developing breast cancer by 30-50%, so eat up!

Soy Curl Shawarma Wrap

makes 2 wraps

ingredients

1/4 cup vegan chicken broth (I use better than bouillon no chicken base)

2 small handfuls of soy curls

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)

big pinch of ground black pepper

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp maple

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp shawarma spice blend (or sub with garam masala)

2 cups kale, torn into small pieces

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp sambal oelek or chili paste of choice

2 tbsp tahini sauce (recipe below)

1 diced pickle

1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers, cut into thin strips

~1/4 of a red onion, sliced

2 tortillas (I used shrak, made over an inverted cast iron skillet, in the photos but that’s for another post perhaps)

Preheat oven to 400

In a medium sized bowl, rehydrate the soy curls in warm water. After about 10 minutes, strain and squeeze out all the water to get the bean-y flavor out. While the soy curls sit in the strainer, stir together the vegan chicken broth, olive oil, soy sauce, liquid smoke paprika, maple, cumin, shawarma spices and pepper until well combined in the original bowl, then add the soy curls and toss until well coated. On a parchment lined baking sheet, roast the soy curls for about 15 minutes, or until slightly crispy and the spice paste has been well absorbed.

While the soy curls are in the oven, add the torn kale, lemon juice and salt to a bowl. Massage for a few seconds and then set aside.

Divide the soy curls, kale, pickles, red onion and roasted red peppers between the two tortillas. Drizzle with tahini and the sambal oelek/chilli paste. Serve alongside extra tahina for dipping.

Tahina

ingredients

1/2 cup tahini

4 garlic cloves, diced

1/4 cup lemon juice

6 tbsp cold water

1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

Combine all ingredients and stir well. Drizzle on literally everything for best results.