well yeah they have protein calories. but i have always understood those calories to be insignificant and unuseable by the body..
can veggy proteins be used to any extent for tissue repair?..or to any extent prevent muscle catabolism?
why would they be insignificant and "unusable"? this makes no sense, you should read a book.
wheat is lacking lysine for example but contains meth/cysteine which beans lack, but beans contain lysine for example. thus combining the to creates a complete protein.
by your definition vegetarians would be dead as the protein calories are insignificant, and protein is essential as in it cannot be made via alternate substrates.