Painless Ways to Add Soy to Your Diet

Veggie Cream Cheese Alternative (by Galaxy Nutritional Foods)

• Where to find it: The soy section of your supermarket, possibly near the produce section.
• What's in it? The first two ingredients are "veggie milk" (which contains, among other things, organic soymilk solids) and nonhydrogenated canola oil. The package did not list grams of soy protein per serving.
• Nutritional analysis: 1 ounce or approximately 2 tablespoons = 50 calories, 2 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat (0 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 220 mg sodium. Also: 10% Daily Value for vitamin A, 10% calcium, 10% vitamins D and E, and 10% for folic acid.
• How does it taste? The texture reminds me of a cross between ricotta cheese and cream cheese. It didn't smell appealing to me, but it tasted OK. It would work as a bagel spread with added flavoring like herbs, roasted garlic, etc. And it would probably work in some recipes that call for cream cheese.

Veggie Sour Cream Alternative (by Galaxy Nutritional Foods)

• Where to find it: The soy section of your supermarket, possibly near the produce section.
• What's in it? The first two ingredients are "veggie milk" (which contains, among other things, organic soymilk solids and isolated soy protein) and nonhydrogenated canola oil. The package did not list grams of soy protein per serving.
• Nutritional Analysis: 1 ounce = 40 calories, 1 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat (0 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 50 mg sodium.
• Also: 15% Daily Value for vitamin A, 15 % calcium, 15% vitamins D and E, and 15% for folic acid.
• How does it taste? Sour cream is a tough product to reproduce. There are only a couple of light sour cream products on the market that I like. I wasn't happy with the taste of the veggie sour cream, but if you mixed it with some other ingredients and were fairly motivated, you'd probably find this product passable.

Annie Chun's Miso Soup (with tofu)

• Where to find it: Probably in the soup aisle.
• What's in it? Soybean paste (miso) and diced tofu are the two soy ingredients. The package did not list grams of soy protein per serving.
• Nutritional analysis: 1 bowl = 230 calories, 6 g protein, 45 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 890 mg sodium. Also: 10% Daily Value for vitamin A, 6% calcium, 8 % iron, and 6% for vitamin C.
• How does it taste? Pretty good, not great. (Maybe miso soup is an acquired taste.) But this is a very convenient product: Just microwave it with some water, in the bowl it came in, for about 1 minute.

Now that we've checked out what's new in the world of soy, here are a couple of main-dish salad recipes using some of these products. Either makes a great warm-weather meal for vegetarians or anyone who wants to start reaping the health benefits of soy.