Tag Archives: wheat gluten

Hail pre-made seitan for quick, easy meals

Posted in The vegan elephant by

 

seitan combo

Both these dishes were made from the same basic ingredient – seitan.

This has not been my best summer. My little cat, Molly, has been extremely ill and I’ve been to-ing and fro-ing daily to the vet after work to visit with her and feed her dinner. On top of that I was tossed on the city bus by a race-car-wannabe driver who left me lamed up and in pain with a smashed ankle. The good news – I’m healing nicely and so is Molly who has received the best of veterinary care.

Last week, my friends, Stephanie and Britton, announced their new business – The Seitanists. They make the most delicious seitan, vacuum sealed and frozen, ready to use as a super easy and fast meal ingredient. Stephanie asked me to try out their seitan and see what I thought.

What I thought is buying already-made seitan is a genius idea for busy people. It was a great solution for me with my full schedule and inability to stand for any amount of time.

I used The Seitanists’ cutlets to make two very different dishes – a spicy stir fry and pan-fried schnitzel medallions.  Check it out.

Seitanic stir fry with a hot, five-spice marinade

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For this stir fry, I cut one of the pre-made seitan cutlets into strips and marinated them for a couple hours. I then stir fried the strips and all the marinade with sliced onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and snow peas and served over rice.

Here’s the recipe for my marinade, which is more than enough to marinate a cup of seitan strips and nicely coat four cups of vegetables and rice.

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1 Tbsp paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne powder

1 tsp five-spice powder

4 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce 

2 Tbsp cooking sherry 

2 Tbsp agave

 1 Tbsp sesame oil

Seitanic schnitzel medallions

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Making these little schnitzel medallions could not have been easier. I cut the seitan cutlet into medallions, dredged them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, dipped them in almond milk and then covered them in mix of 1/2 cup panko crumbs, two tablespoons flour and two tablespoons nutritional yeast.

I pan fried the medallions in vegan margarine on medium heat until both sides were golden and crispy, then served the medallions with lemon wedges, a pink potato salad (add some beets to your regular potato salad) and sauerkraut. My German mother would have loved this.

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Hail seitan! This amazing, versatile ingredient is inexpensive, easy to work with, delicious, versatile and good for you. Thanks to ready-to-use seitan from The Seitanists, there’s no excuse ever for me not to be able to have a great meal in less than 30 minutes.

Seitanic chicken – a/k/a the vital wheat beast

Posted in The vegan elephant by

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Don’t let the lumpy ugliness of this “loaf” fool you. This is chicken-flavoured seitan and it’s ridiculously delicious! Does it taste like chicken? I honestly don’t remember. I can tell you that it’s savoury, flavourful yet light, and has the perfect texture – not too chewy and not too moist. It’s also extremely easy to make, requires no skill, and is kind to your budget.

The intended destination for this wheat beast is my Singapore noodles.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

3/4 cup vital wheat flour

1/4 cup chickpea flour

1 1/2 Tbsp almond meal

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Wet ingredients

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp soy sauce

The broth

4 cups vegetable broth

1 Tbsp barbecue sauce

Seitan

Directions

Combine the broth and BBQ sauce and bring it to a boil in a deep pot. You want a vessel where the seitan will be covered in broth but have room to expand a little. While the broth is heating up, make the seitan.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients. Combine and knead into a ball.

Place the dough ball directly into the pot of broth and reduce the broth to a simmer. Simmer covered for 45 minutes. Remove the seitan from the broth and onto a plate. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes or more before slicing and serving.

I confess, although I made the seitan to go into another dish, I DID eat a whole slice just on its own because it was that more-ish. I think this seitan would be great as a Sunday dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and a green veggie.