Seitan Holiday Roast

This is one of my favorite versions of seitan. It is time consuming, so I don't make it very often. I call it a "holiday roast", because I tend to make it for special occasions. However, it is a great recipe to make any time of the year. The seitan comes out very moist and can be used a variety of ways (cold or warm). It freezes nicely as well.

First:
Pre-heat oven 325 degrees

Second:
Blend the following ingredients (I used a medium size bowl & an immersion blender, but you can use a food processor or a blender)
~ 1 box silken FIRM tofu
~1.5 cups water
~ 3 Tablespoons soy sauce (or Tamari)
~1 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Third:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the following ingredients (stir thoroughly)
~ 2 cups vital wheat gluten
~ 1/2 cup nutritional yeast  powder (flakes are fine too)
~ 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour or soy flour (Bob's Red Mill makes both)
~ 2 tsp onion powder
~ 1 tsp garlic powder
~ 1/4 tsp white pepper (optional)

Fourth:
Combine wet ingredients with dry. Mix with spoon to get all the dried bits into the dough. Knead dough until all ingredients are combined. Let dough sit while you do the following....

Fifth:
Mix the following ingredients together for the basting broth..........(you can use the bowl from the wet ingredients)
~ 2 cups hot water (or warn enough to dissolve a bouillon cube)
~ 1 faux chicken bouillon cube (I get these at Food Fight)
~ 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
~ 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil (if you don't have this, just use Olive Oil......but why don't you have this?? Your kitchen NEEDS this!!)
~1 Tablespoon No-Salt seasoning (I use the organic seasoning from Costco that has a blend of various spices)
~1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Sixth:
Knead Dough for about two or three minutes. Place dough into a LARGE roasting pan and stretch dough to fit the entire bottom of pan. Pour all of the basting broth over the dough. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in oven for 1.5 hours. Remove from oven, cut roast in half and flip over in pan. You should still have plenty of basting broth. Cover with foil and bake for approximately 1.5 more hours. Be sure to check on it periodically to make sure there is still basting broth left. 


When done, there should be very little basting broth left (if any). The seitan tastes better the next day, so you can make this a day ahead and rewarm by using a little broth. The seitan can be sliced as a roast but can be chopped cold in a salad, fried with batter, etc. It is extremely versatile. 

Baked Pasta

I know, I know.....I haven't updated my blog for a LONG while! During the warmer months, I've been making a lot of cold dishes. I've hosted and attended several gatherings over the last few months, where I've been able to share my new cold/room temperature creations. Although I enjoy creating these cold dishes, I just can't seem to get very motivated to write about the subject. So instead, I'm going to tell you about my new favorite casserole dish I created. The concept was based on the baked spaghetti my mom made when I was a kid. However, I've put more of a gourmet spin on it.

Set oven to 350 degrees.

1st: Prepare around 14 to 16 ounces of pasta (I personally like penne made from flax and whole wheat) based on package cooking instructions.

2nd: While step one is in progress, add the following to a large soup pot (all ingredients are optional after the first two) and cook on medium-high:
~1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
~1/4 to 1/3 container of vegan (tofu) cream cheese
~2 to 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
~1 tablespoon olive oil
~1/4 to 1/3 cup white wine
to taste.....add...
~chopped fresh or dried basil
~chopped fresh or dried oregano
~paprika
~red chili flakes
~fresh ground pepper
~fresh ground sea salt
~roasted or fresh garlic (chopped)
~agave syrup

3rd: add any or all of the following to the sauce and simmer on low:
~1/4 cup roasted pine nuts
~approximately 1 pound of seitan chopped into bite sized pieces (or a package of faux chicken chopped into small pieces) OR
~1/2 to 1 cup TVP (hydrated with equal parts water first)

4th: In a large mixing bowl add the following and mix thoroughly:
~one block firm tofu (mashed with fork into a smooth yet chunky consistency)
~onion and garlic powder (to taste)
~salt and pepper (to taste)
~dried basil (to taste)
~1/8 cup nutritional yeast (add more to taste)

5th: Scoop a few spoonfuls of the mixing bowl contents and add it to the sauce.

6th: Add cooked pasta to sauce and fully mix. Pour contents into large baking dish.

7th: In the mixing bowl, add the following and mix thoroughly with tofu:
~1 jar or can of artichoke hearts (drained/chopped)
~2 to 3 handfuls of bread crumbs (I use the vegan seasoned bread crumbs from Trader Joe's)

8th: Spread the mixture over the top of the pasta, covering the entire casserole. Sprinkle additional bread crumbs on top. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. You may need to broil it shortly to get the top nice and brown.

This dish is rather filling, but it goes nicely with a side of steamed broccoli or spinach salad. I also like to pair it with crusty bread served with hot, roasted garlic and a bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.

BBQ Pulled Seitan

For my dinner parties, I typically come up with a theme and cook within it. My last dinner party was centered around Southern Comfort Food. Here are some of the dishes I created and served:

~Sweet Potato Pie

~Pan Fried "Chicken" (created from homemade seitan)

~Collard Greens, Sweet Corn and Black Eyed Peas cooked in southern spices

~Cornbread

~Potato, Leek, Corn and Black Bean Chowder (clear broth)

~BBQ Pulled Seitan over Brown Rice

My BBQ Pulled Seitan creation was the wild card of the evening and it turned out to be the most popular dish served. Although time consuming, it was well worth it. This dish took two days to make due to preparation, cooking, marinating and simmering time. This dish was created in total improvisation, but through the same ingredients I think a tasty variation of this is in your future.

There are several steps involved, but don't get intimidated. These steps are all pretty easy.

STEP ONE: MAKE SEITAN

PRE-HEAT OVEN: 350 degrees

In a food processor (with bread mixer blade) mix the following until it forms a dough (approx. 6 minutes).  ~~~~If you don't own a food processor, then mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and blend the wet ingredients in another. Then combine the wet and the dry and mix and knead until dough is formed.

MIX THE FOLLOWING:

Dry Ingredients:

~1 cup vital wheat gluten*

~1/4 cup garbanzo flour (or soy flour)

~3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

~2 tsp onion powder

~ 1 tsp roasted garlic powder (or regular garlic powder)

~2 tsp paprika 

Wet Ingredients:

~ 3/4 cup water

~ 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

~ 1 tsp liquid smoke

~ 2 tablespoons tahini

In an 8x8 baking dish (lined with parchment paper) - press out your dough until it takes up most of the pan. Next do the following

• Bake in oven for 20 minutes uncovered.
• Remove from oven, with a basting brush apply BBQ-Sauce**
• Return to oven for approx. 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven, flip seitan and apply BBQ-Sauce.
• Return to oven for approx. 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool.

STEP TWO: MARINADE

After the seitan has cooled, take two big forks and pull/shred the seitan into little pieces. A combination of bigger pieces with stringy smaller ones is perfect.

In a lidded container mix up the marinade (add a little of each, for spicy sauce add more hot sauce, for sweeter sauce add more maple syrup, for tangy sauce add more BBQ-Sauce):

Maple syrup
BBQ-Sauce
Hot Sauce
liquid smoke
Mesquite Spice Blend (or BBQ blend spices)
Organic Blue Agave (optional)***
Ground Pepper

Then add the seitan and mix thoroughly so that the seitan is perfectly covered with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate. Shake up the seitan and marinade once in a while. If possible, marinade for at least 24 hours. 

STEP THREE: COOKING PULLED-SEITAN

In a frying pan saute in olive oil:

~1 large purple onion or sweet onion (chopped into small pieces) 

Once the onion is soft add:

~1 large spoonful of crushed garlic
~1 large or 2 small red bell peppers (chopped into small pieces)
~The marinated seitan

Cook until thoroughly hot.

In a mixing bowl combine the following (add a little of each, for spicy sauce add more hot sauce, for sweeter sauce add more maple syrup, for tangy sauce add more BBQ-Sauce and ketchup):

BBQ Sauce
Maple Syrup
Organic Ketchup****
Tamari or Soy Sauce
Organic Blue Agave (optional)
Water (one cup or more, depending on how saucy you want it)
Gravy thickener (add enough for the amount of water added)
Mesquite spices***** 
Ground Black Pepper

In a medium sized crock-pot scoop in the seitan mixture, then add the liquid, then another layer of the mixture and more liquid. Repeat until all the contents are in the crock-pot. Cook on low heat for a few hours. ~~~~If you don't have a crock-pot then simmer in large saucepan on low heat for an hour or so. 

STEP FOUR: EAT

Serve over brown rice. Collard greens makes a good side dish. 

SHOPPING TIPS:

*I typically use Bob's Red Mill's vital wheat gluten, but you can also buy this in bulk at places like WinCo and it is WAY cheaper. 

**I love Trader Joe's Kansas City BBQ sauce. It has a great taste and it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup. 

***Agave syrup can add sweetness to nearly any recipe and is a good substitute for honey. I get it at Trader Joe's and it's pretty cheap. 

****I love Trader Joe's Organic Ketchup. It has only a few ingredients and doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup. 

*****Costco has killer deals on spices. I got a great blend of organic mesquite spices and it was super huge and cheap. 

Thanksgiving Feast: Vegan stuffing

I hosted a vegan Thanksgiving at my house this year. There were 13 people total and a large variety of dishes. Unfortunately, I was so caught up with cooking and serving that I forgot to take pictures of the food (once again). My guests brought food as well, but this is what I prepared: 

Cornbread****

Sweet potato biscuits with cranberry spread

Shiitake gravy

Stuffing with apples, dried cranberries, mushrooms, pecans, walnuts and pineapple**

Seitan roast*

Zesty corn pudding

Herb, matzo and panko encrusted tofu cutlets

Cranberry sauce with apples and pecans

Pumpkin soup with curry, ginger and coconut milk

Brandy spiked-spiced hot apple cider

*I found an awesome recipe for a seitan roast. It turned out extremely soft and my meat-eating guests were very pleased with their turkey replacement. This seitan took many hours to prepare, but it was worth it. I made the version with tofu (not beans) and when I re-heated it I made a marinade of sesame oil and a mixture of herbs and dry spices. 

**VEGAN STUFFING: 

In a skillet, saute the following with olive oil until soft: 

- 2 handfuls of sliced mushrooms

- 2 celery stalks finely chopped

In a large mixing bowl add the following: 

- 10 ounces of herb flavored breadcrumbs***

-2 scallions finely chopped

-1 handful pecans finely copped

-1 handful walnuts finely chopped

-1 large can of pineapple (pour juice in bowl, chop pineapple if in large chunks)

-1 handful of dried cranberries

- 1 large apple chopped into little pieces (I always leave the skin on the apple)

-the sautéed mushrooms and celery

-1 cup of faux chicken stock 

-3 teaspoons of sesame oil

Mix thoroughly. If mixture isn't wet enough, add more stock. Place stuffing in baking dish and cover. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 50 minutes. Uncover after 15-20 minutes. Bake until top is crunchy but not dried out. 

***I don't like making my own bread crumbs. If you're like me, you've probably hunted high and low for vegan breadcrumbs. I found some at my local grocery store by Arrowhead Mills, however they only started carrying them days before the holiday. 

****I LOVE Trader Joe's cornbread mix. Instead of eggs, I use flaxseed meal that's whipped with water and I sub the milk for soy milk. Quick, easy and tastes really yummy. 

Bamboo Steamers

Bamboo Steamers rock my world. I have three sets; all various sizes and I use them constantly. 

Here's how they work....

You put water in the bottom of a wok or pan, then the steamer goes on top. The steamers are stackable, so you can cook a variety of things all at once. Plus, no oil is needed, so your food is lower in fat.

I have an extra large one I picked up in San Francisco's Chinatown that I use for asparagus. I love using them for steaming asian dumplings (I line the racks with parchment paper for easy clean up). When making homemade seitan, I use it to steam the dough into cutlets. You can steam all kinds of veggies; such as Swiss Chard, Eggplant, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Corn Cobs, etc.  

Pic credit: Amazon. 

Savory steamed dumplings: Sweet potato, shiitake and mock duck (gluten)

My Dad turned 89 last week and we had a large gathering at my house. I made all of the food; which was all vegan. It was carnivore approved and no one missed any of the flesh or (milk) puss they were used to. I made a variety of foods and my guests nagged me to give them the recipes. Since they all came from my head, I need to blog as much of the dishes as I can before I forget. 

One of the show stoppers was my steamed dumplings. These little suckers are a little time consuming to make, but well worth it. If you've never made asian dumplings, I'd suggest watching a tutorial on the web. If you google it, you'll find step by step images and video on how to stuff and fold the dumpling. When buying the dumpling skins, make sure they are the round ones (the square ones are for wonton and the thickness is different) and vegan (some brands contain egg). 

I used to make one dumpling at a time, but I found it easier to lay out as many dumpling skins as you can (I used an extra large cutting board as my base), place the stuffing in each, then fold (you must wet the rim of the dumpling before you fold and pinch the skin edges together). You will need something to steam the dumplings with. I use the traditional bamboo steamers, which is placed in a wok. The wok contains the water which then steams the dumplings. I line my bamboo steamer with parchment paper. The dumplings peel right off and there is no cleanup. I also flavor the water in the wok with miso and/or large chunks of sea salt. 

Dumpling contents:

Put the following in a food processor.....

 

- 1 large sweet potato (cooked: either bake ahead of time or pop in the microwave until soft)

- 1 handful of shiitake mushrooms (I used fresh ones, however if you use the dried ones make sure you rehydrate them enough to be soft)

- 1 can of mock duck (wheat gluten) drained (you can use your own seitan, but this stuff has been perfectly flavored for the job)

- a couple of shakes of dark mushroom soy sauce (this stuff is the bomb! - it has a rich, salty flavor that brings out the flavor of the mushrooms)

- a couple of shakes of vegan mushroom oyster sauce (this stuff is also the bomb - it has a sweet taste that will bring out the flavor of the sweet potato)

- a few shakes of thick ground pepper

Pulse in the food processor until everything is chopped up. You want a thick consistency, not creamy; so don't blend the mixture. You might want to open the food processor between each pulse to push the contents down. 

I stored the mixture in the fridge for 24 hours to bring out the flavor. If you don't have that much time, you can probably start stuffing the dumplings whenever you want. Just make sure that the mixture is at least room temperature or colder. If you used a hot potato, you'll need to wait until the mixture cools. 

Now start stuffing the dumplings. Each dumpling will only hold a little dollop of the mixture, so you can make around 25 or so from this recipe. Don't over stuff the dumpling or it will tear. 

Serve warm, with a dipping sauce (although they're so tasty you don't really need extra sauce). I prefer sweet chili sauce or hoisin (plum sauce). However, tradational dipping sauce is fine too, but is salty rather than sweet. 

Zesty Spicy Seitan Loaf

Every once in a while I come up with a new variation of seitan. Today I wanted to do one that was spicy and flavorful without having to marinate it after it has been made. I didn't really measure much, except for a few key ingredients, so some of the stuff you'll have to wing, depending on the level of spice you can tolerate. 

First: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Meanwhile: In a frying pan saute the following - 

a few shakes of olive oil (to grease the pan)

1/2 sweet onion

1 heaping tablespoon of crushed garlic

8 or 10 twists of ground pepper 

4 good shakes of taco seasoning

4 shakes of dried red chili pepper seeds

(once the onions are soft and browned, remove from heat and set aside)

In a food processor add the following: 

3/4 cup water

1 can tomato paste

4 or 5 shakes of tamari

2 or 3 shakes of Braggs

2 to 4 shakes of chipotle hot sauce

2 to 4 shakes of cayenne hot sauce (tabasco sauce would be fine too) 

3 or 4 squirts of organic ketsup

2 hot peppers (remove seeds first)

sauteed onion mixture 

(blend until mixture liquifies) 

In a large size bowl: 

2 cups vital wheat gluten

3 or 4 shakes of taco seasoning

6 or 8 shakes of paprika

3 shakes of cumin

4 to 6 grinds of sea salt

6 to 10 grinds of ground pepper

(Stir up dry ingredients, then fold in wet ingredients from food processor. Stir until dough forms and all ingredients have become fully mixed in the dough)

Kneed dough with hands a few times. Let stand for 5 minutes and kneed a few more times. 

On a large piece of aluminum foil, place the dough in the center, first shaping into a loaf with your hands. Once the dough is on the foil, continue to form into loaf if needed. 

Wrap the loaf up in the foil and bend the ends over. 

Bake on rack in oven for 1 1/2 hours.  Take out of the oven and open foil, place on cooling rack. Once cool store in oven or eat while hot. 

Seitan can be used in sandwiches, soups, fried, sauteed, etc. 

Asparagus and Mushroom Soup

It was raining out and I didn't feel like going to the store, so I looked around the fridge and came up with this recipe. 

First: Steam one bunch of asparagus, remove from heat once they start to become soft. Do not let them get too soft. 

Meanwhile: In a frying pan, line the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil and saute 1/2 large sweet onion (chopped) with a big spoonful of crushed garlic, ground pepper, sea salt, paprika. Saute until soft and browned. Set aside. 

In a soup pot: Saute sliced mushrooms (6 or 8 medium to large sized mushrooms) with a little olive oil, paprika, ground pepper and sea salt. Set aside. 

Take each piece of asparagus and cut the tips off. Set aside the tips and put the rest of the asparagus in the food processor. 

Add the following to the food processor and blend until creamy: 

2 1/2 cups soy milk

several shakes of tamari

a couple of shakes of Braggs

the sautéed onions

Put the soup pot on medium heat- add a 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons of vegan margarine. 

Stir in a tablespoon of gravy thickener - saute

Pour in contents from food processor and heat. 

Add seitan pieces  - 8 to 12 small chunks (optional, but highly recommended for hearty soup) 

Add the asparagus tips

Serve.

Seitan Picatta

Picatta is tangy and not for all palates. But if you like lemon and capers then you'll probably enjoy it.

In a frying pan, saute the following:

10 mushrooms sliced chunky style(use your favorite ones, I used a meaty variety. If you use a portabello, one would suffice)
2 green onions - chopped
heaping tablespoon of crushed garlic
5 or 6 twists of freshly ground sea salt
olive oil (enough to keep the pan coated but not greasy)

In a separate frying pan:

Coat pan with olive oil
add in a few giant scoops of whole wheat flour (if you have a gravy thickener you can use this alone or in addition to the flour)
heat and mix very quickly until it starts to brown slightly
add lemon juice (amount depends on how tangy you can take it)
a few shakes of cumin
Ground pepper
white wine
a little water (add a little as you go- until you get desired thickness and taste)
capers (several hefty scoops)
Stir until thick then add contents from other frying pan.

The empty frying pan can be used for the next step; add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Keep the gravy mixture on low and stir occasionally as you make the seitan.

In one shallow bowl, mix up one or two egg replacers
In a second shallow bowl, add whole wheat flour.

Dip seitan slices into faux eggs to coat, then dip in flour to coat and place in pan. Repeat until the pan is full with seitan.
Cook seitan on med-high. When the seitan starts to get crisp, flip pieces over. The seitan will cook very quickly.

Tip: Serve on a bead of brown rice, place seitan around edges and pour gravy mixture on top.
Tip: Serve a vegetable on the side, such as asparagus.
Tip: You can use my basic seitan recipe to create the seitan slices to be used in this recipe.

Super Easy: Seitan - goes with all types of meals

Seitan can be used in place of meat for a variety of flavorful meals. Seitan is made from gluten, so if you have issues with wheat, you should pass on this recipe.

A lot of recipes for Seitan are either heavy on the Asian flavor or have a tomato base. Both types are yummy, but are rather limited in regards to the types of different meals you can make from them. I came up with a recipe for Seitan that has the right flavors that can be used with all types of dishes, such as Mexican, Soul Food, Italian, Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, BBQ, etc.

Dry Ingredients (add to large bowl first)

1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (I use Bob's Red Mill)
6 or 7 hefty shakes of paprika
2 or 3 shakes of garlic powder
5 to 10 shakes of ground pepper
4 or 5 shakes of seasoning salt
1 or 2 shakes of All Spice
3 to 7 shakes of red pepper flakes
8 to 10 grinds of sea salt (using salt grinding mill)

Mix around using whisk. After thoroughly mixed, add wet ingredients (tip: to make sure all the flavors are blended; mix wet ingredients in separate bowl and then add to dry ingredients)

Wet Ingredients

8 to 10 shakes of Tamari
3 to 6 shakes of Braggs Liquid Amino
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
3/4 cup cold water

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. As dough forms, kneed dough with hands 4 to 5 times (in bowl). Let the dough sit.

In the meantime, using a soup pot (or a large cooking pot such as one you'd use for spaghetti) heat up water (fill the pot 2/3 up with water) with a few scoops of crushed garlic.

As the water heats, place dough on cutting board and kneed 2 more times. Stretch the dough and slice off thin slices. The slices can be a variety of sizes. I'd go thinner than thick. Long pieces will be easier to cook with later (approx. 2" long is adequate). As the water starts to bubble, drop the dough pieces into the water. Once the water reaches a full boil, turn down to a medium to med. low heat for an hour.

Drain seitan in colander and let cool. Store in refrigerator. If you do not use the seitan within a week, freeze for future use. Seitan always tastes better after its had a chance to sit (a few hours to 1 day will really bring out the flavor)

The seitan will have flavor on its own, however when you go to cook with it I'd recommend using sauces or a marinade. Have fun.