Walnut Herb Crusted Seitan

It really is fascinating how your views of the world around you change when you become vegan.

When you realize that you are living, breathing, happy, healthy, and thriving without participating in the mass cruelty and slaughter of billions of animals every year, it really makes you step back and consider everything you used to take for granted.

Homemade Baked Seitan

Seitan is one of my favorite vegan options. But it has to be done right––store bought seitan can prove particularly disappointing, although, I have found it to work well if ground up with lots and lots of other flavorings, such as this taquito recipe my friend shared with me quite a while ago. 

Korean Seitan Bulgogi and Cheater Kimchi

This is based off of a recipe that I've had laying around for about ten years (no, really). The recipe I had predated even my pescatarian (while self-identifying as vegetarian) years, and as such was meat-based. I've always kept my favorite recipes in the same notebook, so I rarely look through the first twenty pages or so, since essentially none of these are vegan or vegetarian. However, looking through this section one day, it dawned on me that Bugolgi, or Korean barbecue, wouldn't be a difficult thing to veganize at all. So, I made some changes to the old recipe, and tried it out on seitan. 

The results were fantastic. The seitan is thinly sliced and marinated before being broiled. The brown sugar in the marinade caramelizes and the edges of the seitan blacken. The seitan is extremely savory and quite firm, with loads of umami flavor (umami is the "meaty" flavor that many people crave). 

Meanwhile, I was considering what veggies to have as a side with the seitan. Often, bulgogi is served with kimchi, which is the Korean equivalent of sauerkraut. But, I had a number of roadblocks. Roadblock #1 was that store bought kimchi costs more than I am willing to pay (at least at Vitamin Cottage, where I normally shop), at about $8 to $15 per jar. 

Fine. "I'll make it myself," I thought, and I found this really great looking recipe at the Kitchn. However, on week one Vitamin Cottage didn't have daikon. On week two, they had daikon but no Napa cabbage (they stock only organic fruits and veggies--at really great prices--but this also means that you don't necessarily have the huge selection of say, Whole Foods, who can fill in with non-organic or non-local produce if needed). I ordered the Gochugaru, but it came late, and then I accidentally used all my scallions on another recipe before realizing I needed them here. 

So, seeing as I really just wanted to see how the seitan would come out, and I was running out of options in my refrigerator for the week, I decided to cut my losses, and not pay the $$$ for kimchi and also not to spend my time trying to ferment it. I came up with cheater kimchi, which may not be exactly like true kimchi. However, this "cheater" kimchi captures many of the flavors of real kimchi, and is a nice, healthful accompaniment to the seitan. If it bothers you that this isn't very traditional, keep in mind that somewhere on this blog is a recipe for enchiladas that uses flour tortillas--a travesty for a New Mexican like me--and that I did this because I thought it tasted good and not because I'm a jerk. :) 

Korean Seitan Bulgogi and Cheater Kimchi

Time: 45 minutes (plus 1 hour to marinate the seitan)

Serves: 4-6

For the Korean Barbeque

1 pound seitan

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

3 tablespoons sambal oelek

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons canola oil

Slice the seitan into slivers (as thin as you can!). Combine the garlic, ginger, sambal oelek, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a large shallow dish. Add the seitan and stir to coat. Marinate for an hour, stirring occasionally. The seitan should soak up all the marinade. 

Preheat the broiler on Hi. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with the canola oil and spread the seitan out in a thin layer. Broil on Hi for 7 minutes. Remove from broiler, mix seitan with a spatula to expose uncooked seitan, and return to broiler for 1-2 minute intervals, stirring until the edges of the seitan are evenly charred (but, obviously, you don't want to completely burn the seitan). 

Remove from the broiler and keep warm until ready.

For the Cheater Kimchi

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

3/4 cup scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 daikons, cut into matchsticks

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 Napa cabbage, halved and sliced into 2 inch chunks

2 tablespoons dulse (a crumbled seaweed, or use crumbled nori sheets)

3 tablespoons Gochugaru Korean chili powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Add all ingredients to the skillet and cover. Steam the vegetables just until the cabbage is softened and the flavors begin to mix, no longer than 5 minutes. 

Serve with the seitan and cooked rice. 

Sage-Baked Seitan with Brown Sugar Buttered Acorn Squash and Balsamic Rainbow Chard

It's FALL. So that means winter squash, sage, and brown sugar. Despite the looks of this recipe, this is a relatively simple dish (once you've made your seitan). If you're looking for a seitan recipe, there is one here, just please forgive me for the terrible pictures!! I guess it is evidence that I have learned a lot about food photography in the last year of blogging.

It will take about an hour with the baking times and will serve 4.

Brown Sugar Buttered Squash

1 acorn squash, halved

2 tablespoons Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Sage-Baked Seitan
4 seitan cutlets
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 ground black pepper

Balsamic Rainbow Chard
1 bunch rainbow chard (of course you can substitute other greens)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place acorn squash halves in a baking dish, cut side up. Place 1 tablespoon margarine and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in each half. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs, sage, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper. Dredge each seitan cutlet in panko. Place on baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. If you're really streamlining your dinner-making, you should put the seitan in the oven after the squash has cooked 35 minutes (and has 25 left).

Once you have put the seitan in the oven, you can prepare the chard. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Cut the leaves lengthwise, and then chop widthwise. Add the chard to the pan and simmer. Once leaves have wilted slightly, add the balsamic vinegar and salt. If you finish and are still waiting on  the squash and seitan, just cover the pan and remove from heat.

Enjoy!

Jerk-Marinated Coconut Seitan

For the Marinated Seitan

1 cup coconut milk
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon minced dried onion
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayanne
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons shoyu (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Juice of half a lime
Pepper flakes to taste
4 seitan cutlets, sliced (or sub two packages of prepared seitan)
1 tablespoon canola oil

Whisk together all ingredients in a shallow, medium-sized baking pan. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible from seitan and add to pan. Allow to marinate for about 1 hour.

Heat oil in a medium sized skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, prepare seitan for cooking by straining off the marinate (keep it around though!) and pressing the seitan to squeeze out excess marinate. Add seitan to the pan and saute until browned, remove from pan and keep warm.

For the Sauce

1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons flour
Reserved marinade

After finishing the seitan, keep the pan on medium-high heat and add the flour. Whisk the flour in the pan for about 30 seconds, and then add the coconut milk, scraping off any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Whisk to combine the flour and coconut milk as well as possible, and then add in all the reserved marinade. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.

To Serve

Cooked rice
Steamed or sauteed dinosaur kale

To serve, place rice on plate, top with seitan and kale, and smother with sauce.

Cheers!

Seitan Pot Pie!

It appears my new obsession is savory pies! I really didn't like Chicken Pot Pie as a child, and have had the most "Pot Pies" after becoming vegan, but I tried to make this pie as classic as possible. 

Something that I have found as a vegan and also when I was a vegetarian, is that you associate certain flavors with certain meats, for example: sage or rosemary with chicken. When you use sage or rosemary in a vegan recipe, it is reminiscent enough of the food that used to be there and is really satisfying. That being said, this pie makes use of sage, thyme, marjoram, and mustard, as well as a lot of wine, which, coincidentally is really important to vegan cooking!

This meal is also REALLY filling. You will not. I repeat- You will NOT feel like you just ate something vegan. I have been told by people who briefly tried vegetarianism that they just couldn't "get full" and that they had to go back to eating meat. I had a similar feeling when I became vegan, that is, until I relearned how to cook. Becoming vegan and learning how to cook this way has been really rewarding and has rekindled my interest in cooking, period. This recipe is is a product of that journey, so I hope you enjoy it!

Seitan Pot Pie

Makes: 6 servings

Time: 1 hour

Crust

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cornmeal 

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (12 tablespoons), chopped

2/3 cup water

Filling

1 tablespoon buttery sticks

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup flour

2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 lb seitan, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 medium red potatoes, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 medium sized carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas

In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Throw in the "butter" and mix with two forks, a pastry mixer, or your two hands, until it resembles coarse sand. Drizzle 1/3 cup water over the mixture and then mix. If a coherent ball of dough does not form, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough coalesces into a ball. Press into a disc, and keep in fridge while making the filling. 

Preheat the oven to 375º.

To make the filling, heat the oil and margarine in a large skillet or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add the flour and mustard powder, and whisk while browning the flour. Once the flour has come to a deep golden color add the onions, potatoes, seitan, celery, and carrots and stir until the vegetables become translucent. Add the garlic and herbs; stir for about a minute. Add the peas, corn, wine and broth to deglaze the pan, and bring to a boil. Once the liquid has thickened slightly, remove the pan from heat and season with salt and pepper. 

Pour the filling into a 2 quart square baking dish (or any dish where the filling sits about 2 inches thick). Roll the dough out into the shape that corresponds with your pan such that the perimeter extends about two inches beyond the edge of your dish in every direction. Place the dough on top of the filling, centering it on the pan, and then roll the edges upwards and over along all the sides into the pan, to give the crust a thick, raised edge. Push this edge downwards along the edges of the pan into the filling. This is nice because despite the fact that there is no crust on the bottom, the outer edge of the pie has a little bit. With a knife pierce the top of the pie several times to allow steam to escape. 

Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove and enjoy.

Cheers!