April is Soyfoods Month

MANKATO, MN (04/01/2009)(readMedia)-- Remember a time not too long ago when the mention of soy brought to mind flavorless blocks of tofu? A time when hunting for soy in the grocery store took almost as much time as balancing your checkbook? Well it's time to forget everything you thought you knew about soy, and give your diet a 21st century kick.

For example, today's tofu can create a light lemon cheesecake, delicious smoothies and tangy dips for healthy snacking. You'll get the same flavorful scoop without the guilt.

How about soymilk? Soymilk can stimulate your morning latte, add protein and flavor to your morning cereal and can be used to make great sauces.

Ed-a-wha-who? That's edamame (ed-ah-mah-may). It's a green, sweet soybean that's harvested earlier in the growing season. Edamame can transform a typical salad into a flavorful, protein-packed masterpiece. And the best part - it's so good for you!

The health benefits of soy are nearly endless. Soy is the only plant protein that contains all nine essential amino acids - making it equivalent to animal protein. Plus, studies have shown it can increase memory function, control blood pressure, help prevent bone loss, lower your risk of heart disease and decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol while increasing HDL (good) cholesterol.

Soy is also packed with fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and isoflavones, which have antioxidant properties.

In addition to its health benefits, soy is easy to substitute in almost any recipe. The next time you get a craving for chocolate chip cookies, use soy flour in place of the same old bleached flour. And then add some soynuts for a satisfying crunch.

So with a variety of great tasting, easy to make soy foods available in virtually every grocery store across the state, it's time to forget the old vision of soy and start new, healthy traditions in your kitchen.

For lists of soy food products, recipes and related links visit www.mnsoybean.org.

The Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) is made up of an elected board of 15 soybean producers from the crop reporting districts in the state. The mission of the council is to invest soybean checkoff dollars in well-defined research, marketing, education and commercialization programs designed to increase demand and thereby improve the profitability of Minnesota's soybean farmers.