Vegan philly seitan sandwiches and sweet potato fries

Can you tell that I am obsessed with my mandoline? I am finding recipes that call for sliced stuff. My normal sweet potato fries are more like steak fries, but this time, they were just like the ones you get at Delux or Stax (except baked, not fried)!

My grandma got me a vegan cookbook for my birthday called You Won't Believe It's Not Vegan. And, let me tell you, I can't believe it! Tonight we made philly seitan sandwiches from the book. Next time around, I think I'll swap the nutro cheese for Teese Cheese...then it will be WOW! The sweet potato fries are my old stand-by recipe, but I decided to sprinkle some oregano into the mix for a new taste.

Sweet Potato Fries
1 sweet potato (sliced into straight fries)
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
oregano, salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees
2. Toss the fries in the oil with the oregano, salt and pepper
3. Line up on a non-stick cookie sheet
4.  Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the fries
5. Bake the 2nd side for 10 minutes and watch closely to ensure they don't burn

Nutro Cheese (for topping on the philly seitan sandwich):
Yield 1 pint
2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch cayenne
1/4 tsp dry mustard
3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tbsp tamari
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Warm the oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, turmeric, cayenne and mustard until smooth, then whisk in the soy milk.

2. Add the water and tamari and let cook for 5-8 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the nutritional yeast and let cook, whisking, for another 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Will keep for 4-5 days refrigerated.

Carmelized onions
1 large yellow onion (thinly-sliced)
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt and cook, stirring often, until they begin to carmelize and turn golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Philly Seitan Sandwich
4 pieces of an italian baguette or 4 pieces of thick loaf bread
2 cups thinly-sliced seitan
1/8 cup tamari
1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1. pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment

2. Warm the bread in the oven for a minute or two

3. Toss the sliced seitan with the tamari and olive oil. Spread out on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, or until golden

4. Mix the seitan and carmelized onions together and spread out on the bread

5. Smother with nutro cheese and serve

We took some funny pictures of ourselves tonight, we were both wearing green:

My yellow nails and yellow straw...

We are now watching the remake of Grey Gardens. OMG. The original was jaw-dropping. This one is amazing, too.

Vegan copycat Green mock chicken (Seitan) Kung Pao/Thai Peanut Rice Bowl

Tonight I was craving Green (big surprise). I actually met clients/friends there tonight, but didn't eat there. I was determined to create a copycat recipe to the Kung Pao and Thai Peanut rice bowls. I bought some fresh vegetables and ginger for my creation. I LOVE ginger. LOVE. I loaded up this recipe with tons of ginger. I thought it turned out exactly like Green's dishes.
Vegan Kung Pao/Thai Peanut Seitan Recipe

SERVES 4 (enough for leftovers for 2)

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Ingredients

• 4 chicken breast size pieces of seitan
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons light sesame oil or vegetable oil (I used sesame oil)
• 3 tablespoons green onions, chopped with tops
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4-1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (to your own taste)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
•  4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
•  4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
•  3 teaspoons turbinado sugar
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
•  2 cups cooked rice, hot 
• 12 baby carrots sliced (or 1 regular carrot sliced)
• 1 zucchini sliced
• 1 cup fresh broccoli

Directions

1. Cut seitan into small pieces and combine with cornstarch in small bowl.
2. Toss to coat.
3. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet or wok on medium heat.
4. Add seitan.
5. Stir fry 5- 7 minutes.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Add green onions, garlic, red pepper and ginger to skillet.
8. Stir fry 15 seconds on medium high eat.
9. Add carrots, zucchini and broccoli
10. Stir fry about 5-7 minutes
11. Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in small bowl.
12. Stir well.
13. Add to skillet.
14. Stir until seitan is well coated.
15. Stir in nuts.
16. Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until sauce thickens
17. Serve over hot rice. 

Vegan seitan parmigiana recipe

We are definitely on a seitan kick lately. It's like we have been trying to replace chicken in our normal every day meals. If there was a chicken recipe I used to love, my goal has been to use seitan as a replacement for the chieken. I do need to find other meat/protein alternatives because I have gained 2 pounds in the 3 weeks we've been vegan. This probably has to do with my sweet treat baking and my overall carbohydrate consumption. I do have to admit that my calorie intake has gone up because I am not eating "diet" foods. My soy yogurt has twice the calories of my old dairy light yogurt. My Ezekiel bread has more calories than my old light bread. And so on. I really had my heart set on making my vegan lifestyle *easy*. But, the truth is that it isn't easy. You have to pay so much more attention to basic nutrition.
I have become interested in raw recipes and hope to incorporate raw meals into our new lifestyle. I also have the goal of eating more vegetables and finding ways to try new foods.

Mock chicken (seitan) Parmigiana recipe:
Modified from a Vegan Dad recipe

We only needed enough for 2 pieces of "chicken" seitan, so we used 1/3 of all ingredients listed

Seitan Parmigiana

INGREDIENTS

- 6 pieces of "chicken" seitan, cooled

- 1 cup soymilk (we used silk vanilla soy milk)

- 1 tsp lemon juice

- 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (vwegan variety)

- 1/2 c nutritional yeast

- 1/2 tsp each salt, parsley, oregano

- oil for frying (we used very little oil)

- 1 jar spaghetti sauce

- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast

- 6 mozarella Tofutti slices (we used Teese mozzarella)

- cooked spaghetti (we omitted the spaghetti in favor of steamed brocolli)

METHOD:

1. In a medium bowl, mix lemon juice into soymilk. Stir and let thicken.

2. In a large bowl, mix bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, salt, and spices.

3. Dip a piece of seitan in the soymilk, then roll in the breadcrumbs. Repeat with all pieces of seitan. When all pieces are done, dip seitan back in the soymilk, then into the breadcrumbs to "double bread" the seitan. (Always keep one hand dry so that the bread crumbs do not clump)

4. Fry in oil on medium heat until golden brown.

5. Pour oil out of pan. Let pan cool a bit. Add spaghetti sauce into the saucepan. Stir in nutritional yeast. When bubbling, place seitan pieces in the sauce and top with a slice of cheese. Turn down heat and cover. Serve when cheese has melted.

TIP: Putting the seitan back in the sauce kind of sogs the breading. If that is not the texture you are going for, put the cheese on the seitan and place under the broiler for a few mins to melt the cheese.

Vegan seitan fajitas

This week, we are trying out some southwestern vegan cooking. I have always loved chicken fajitas and knew it would be simple to modify a chicken fajita recipe. I have not eaten chicken or turkey in 2 weeks! Woot!

Our friend Ty's recipe for seitan (see one of my previous posts for the recipe) lasted 1 whole week; it was the equivalent of a bag of frozen chicken!

So, with some simple changes, my chicken fajitas go vegan: chicken=seitan, sour cream= Tofutti "sour cream", cheese=Daiya "cheese".




Seitan Fajitas

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 medium onion
    1 green, red or golden pepper cut in long thin slices
    1/2 pound seitan
    1/2 teaspoon cumin
    1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
    Tofutti vegan sour cream
    Daiya vegan cheese
    Chopped fresh cilantro
    Organic tortillas

Directions:

Saute onions and peppers in a little oil until tender.  Add in the seitan, cumin and chili powder, and cook until seitan is hot.  Fold into a hot tortilla. Serve with cilantro, vegan sour cream, vegan cheese, rice and beans. Makes 3-4 fajitas.

Kung Pao mock chicken (seitan)

I thought it would be cool to find a recipe calling for chicken and replace it with seitan. Tonight, I dreamed of Green's Kung Pao chicken. I looked up recipes online and found a kung pao chicken recipe that had over 200 reviews.  http://www.recipezaar.com/Kung-Pao-Chicken-40339 I modified the recipe and the results were fantastic. Even if you aren't vegan, try this recipe with chicken...I'm sure it is yummy!

Kung Pao Seitan Recipe

SERVES 3 -4 

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Ingredients

• 2 chicken breast size pieces of seitan
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons light sesame oil or vegetable oil (I used sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons green onions, chopped with tops
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4-1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (to your own taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (can use fresh grated if preferred)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 4 cups cooked rice, hot

Directions

 

1. 
   

   
   

   Cut seitan into small pieces and combine with cornstarch in small bowl.
2. 
   

   
   

   Toss to coat.
3. 
   

   
   

   Heat oil in large non-stick skillet or wok on medium heat.
4. 
   

   
   

   Add seitan.
5. 
   

   
   

   Stir fry 5- 7 minutes.
6. 
   

   
   

   Remove from heat.
7. 
   

   
   

   Add onions, garlic, red pepper and ginger to skillet.
8. 
   

   
   

   Stir fry 15 seconds.
9. 
   

   
   

   Remove from heat.
10. 
    

    
    

    Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in small bowl.
11. 
    

    
    

    Stir well.
12. 
    

    
    

    Add to skillet.
13. 
    

    
    

    Return seitan to skillet.
14. 
    

    
    

    Stir until seitan is well coated.
15. 
    

    
    

    Stir in nuts.
16. 
    

    
    

    Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally.
17. 
    

    
    

    Serve over hot rice.

Seitan (we pronounce it SA-TAN for fun) and Vegan Yum Yum Seitan and Brocollini with Clementine Teriyaki

I had never ever heard the word seitan before. My friend Ty sent me the recipe, when I mentioned I was on a quest to make mock chicken. This recipe is beyond amazing and the possibilities are endless. We are going to use seitan and tofu to replace chicken in many of our vegan meals.

Here are some fun facts about Seitan:

From http://www,essortment.com:
Seitan (say-TAHN) is made from gluten. Seitan is a low fat, high protein, firm-textured meat substitute. It has been eaten in China, Japan, Korea, Russia and the Middle East for thousands of years. It is a food rich in tradition as well as nutrition.

As a protein source, seitan contains about 31 grams of protein per 4 ounce serving (which means it has more plant protein per serving than tofu), provides a modest amount of B vitamins and iron and contains no saturated fat or cholesterol.

Ty's Seitan Recipe

You need:
Vital Wheat Gluten (sold in bulk at whole foods or in boxes by arrowhead mills at Sunflower)
Vegetarian Faux Chicken Stock (sold in a yellow cannister at Ranch 99 or other Asian markets - you can use your favorite veggie stock in a pinch.

Process:
Bring 3 quarts water with four tablespoons of chicken stock powder to a boil

In a large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons chicken stock powder to 1 and 7/8 cup hot water. Chill it in the refrigerator for 1 hr.

Mix chilled stock concentrate with 2 cups vital wheat gluten and let rest for ten minutes. It forms a dough.

Knead dough for 5-7 minutes until it forms a kind of tough, chicken-like skin.

Cut the dough ball into 1/2 inch fillets. They will look like chicken breast fillets.

Add fillets to boiling stock water. Return to a boil and simmer for 50 minutes.

After that, you can store the chicken in the refrigerator with the stock you boiled it in. You can just pull the chicken out and use fillets as needed for any recipe.

Vegan Yum Yum Seitan and Brocollini With Clementine Teriyaki Recipe
http://veganyumyum.com/2010/01/seitan-and-broccolini-with-clementine-teriyaki/

Serves Two
8 Ounces Sliced Seitan (I used the recipe above)
1 Cup Sushi Rice (I used brown rice)
6-8 Stalks of Broccolini (I used regular broccoli)
2 Clementines (I used tangelos)
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
Japanese Seven Spice, optional (I didn't use this)

Clementine Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 Cup Low Sodium Tamari
1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Fresh Clementine Juice (I used tangelo juice)
1/4 Cup + 1 Tbs Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup Water
Zest from 1 Clementine (I used tangelo zest)

Rinse your sushi rice in cool water and drain. Cook in your rice cooker or on the stove according to package directions, but 1 cup of sushi rice is usually cooked in 1 1/4 cups of water. Allow to cook completely and steam for 5-10 minutes off the heat while you are preparing the rest of the meal. Total cooking time for the rice will be around 20 minutes.
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small pan let it go at a lively simmer for 20 minutes, until reduced and slightly thick. The sauce will NOT be super thick when it is hot. It will very slightly cover the back of a spoon and look syrupy, but it’s not going to be thick until it cools, so don’t worry if it seems runny. At the end of the cooking you should see large, excited bubbles (this is the sugar caramelizing), so if you don’t see those, keep cooking. Once the sauce is done, it’ll taste good but pretty strong. Set aside.
While the sauce and the rice are cooking, prepare your seitan and broccolini. Slice the seitan into 1/8″ thick medallions, or something similar. I usually don’t prep broccolini any more than rinsing it and chopping off the ends, but if the stalks are particularly thick, you may wish to half them lengthwise. This shouldn’t be the case with most bunches you find in the store, however.
Heat a large non-stick or cast-iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the seitan and let brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl, turn up the heat to high, and add broccolini in one layer. Once you get color on one side, flip, reduce heat to low, and cover the pan to finish the cooking, another 2-3 minutes. The broccolini should be bright green and cooked to a tender-crisp.
Once you are ready to serve, add the seitan to the pan with the broccolini. Drizze enough teriyaki sauce in to coat everything. Beware, if the pan is too hot you risk burning your sauce, so take good care here. Once everything is heated and covered in a nice glaze, serve immediately with the sushi rice. Top with seven spice if you like a little heat.
This sauce is strong so you just need enough to coat — save any extra for a future meal.