Can you tell I’ve been on a Seitan kick lately? Haha. I actually am really liking it for a meat alternative. This week I’m bringing you an original recipe that I made up and it turned out to be one of our favorites. I’ll definitely be making it again. It was filling, packs a lot of flavor, and I loved the texture of the seitan.
I love this seitan from Harmon’s Grocery Store (if you live in Utah), as I mentioned in my last post. It comes in chunks, which I love, but some times the chunks are a little big, so I cut those in smaller pieces.
Quick & Delicious Balsamic Glazed Seitan
Serves 4-6
2 packages chunky seitan
1-2 teaspoons sage
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
For the sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
Take seitan out of the pack and separate. I like to cut the bigger chunks into smaller ones so they are all kind of the same size. Sprinkle it with 1-2 teaspoons sage, salt and pepper and rub the garlic into the chunks. Let sit while you make the sauce.
For the sauce:
Place all ingredients into a sauce pan and let it come to a boil until it’s thickened. This usually takes about 10 -15 minutes.
Place seitan in a skillet with about 1/2 cup sauce, stir and heat on medium high. Once sauce is absorbed into the seitan, add a little more at a time and turn heat down to medium low. Keep adding sauce and simmer until sauce is absorbed into the seitan, but yet there is a little left to use on the rice. I like to simmer it for 10-15 min. It gives it some good flavor.
That’s it! Simple. Easy. Packed with flavor. I like serving this with rice and here I show it served with zucchini and summer squash, but I think I prefer broccoli. Enjoy :).
It’s FRIDAY Y’ALL!! Time for a new recipe and I think you are going to love it. We sure did. I’ve been wanting to experiment more with seitan. I looked up a few recipes and then decided on this one that is adapted from the yupitsvegan.com site. If you haven’t checked out her recipes, you should. She’s got some amazing ones. I made a few changes though in the way you cook the seitan because I wanted it to take on more flavor while cooking. And, of course, I did not use oil.
Also, have you noticed how you can’t buy tofu in the grocery stores? I asked my local grocer, “Where’s all the tofu?” and he said that the tofu plants are closed for 3 weeks. Ummm hello?? I need tofu for my recipes!! I then decided that I’m going to make my own, so stay tuned for that recipe in the near future.
Let’s get back to todays recipe………
Vegan Mongolian Seitan
For the sauce:
1/2 cup vegetable broth (this is to use in place of the oil)
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
3 cloves garlic
1/3 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1/3 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup coconut sugar (or a scant half cup brown sugar)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
For the crisped seitan:
1 pound seitan, cut into 1 inch pieces (the seitan I bought was in chunks and it was awesome)
For serving:
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
sliced scallions
To make the sauce:
Heat a little of the vegetable broth in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and the garlic; stir constantly. After about 30 seconds, add the five spice and the red pepper flakes, and cook for one minute or until fragrant.
Add the soy sauce and the coconut sugar and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer until the coconut sugar is dissolved and slightly reduced, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Whisk together the cornstarch and the cold water, then add it to the pan and stir. Cook for 2-3 more minutes, until the sauce becomes glossy and thickened slightly. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and keep simmering gently until ready to add to the seitan.
To make the seitan:
In a wok or skillet, heat some of the vegetable broth over medium-high heat. Add a bit of the sauce to the seitan and cook, stirring frequently, for about 4-5 minutes or until slightly browned and crisped around the edges.
Reduce heat to low and add the remaining sauce to the pan. Stir to coat all of the seitan pieces, and continue cooking until the sauce has adhered to the seitan. Remove from the heat and serve hot, with the rice and/or vegetables of choice, and garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.
This week I have been thinking about some creative dinner recipes that I could publish on my blog. Maybe it comes from not having so much to do because of being isolated and 6 feet apart from everyone in my world haha. The struggle is real folks! I hope all of you are doing well and filling your time with the people you love (virtually and real life) and some things that you have time to now do.
Today I am bringing you an original and with this recipe you can get creative yourself and use a different bean other than garbanzo, such as pinto beans (try my instant pot pinto bean recipe) and give it a Mexican twist.
Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms (an itsapegslife original 🙂
Serves 3-4 people
6 portabella mushrooms, washed, gills and stems removed
1 sweet potato, baked, sprinkle with a little cumin and chili powder and smashed
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch of green onions, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup raw quinoa, cooked in veg. broth (1/2 c quinoa to 1 c veg broth, bring to boil, cover, and cook on med. low for 20 min.)
2 cans any type of bean. I did a garbanzo bean mixture with sauted onion and garlic, salt, pepper and tumeric and slightly mashed them.
1 can vegan refried beans
1 sliced avocado
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and once it is up to temperature, put mushrooms gill side up on a baking sheet lined with a splat mat or parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 min while you get the remaining ingredient together.
While mushrooms are cooking saute garlic, onion, red pepper and green pepper on medium high. To do this, first add a little veg broth to the pan and let it get hot, then add garlic and onion. Saute for 2 minutes and then add peppers. I like to add a few shakes of cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste (1/2 tea. each approx.) at this point. Saute until peppers are cooked through (about 10 min).
Add whatever bean you want to this mixture.
After mushrooms are done cooking, remove from oven and let sit while you get your ingredients in order for the “stuffing.” This is also a great way to use up some of the leftover stuff in the fridge. For example, the sweet potato, garbanzo mix and refried beans were leftover from other meals that I had prepared last week.
First blot dry the inside of each mushroom with a paper towel to absorb the moisture. Now for the assembly–
Refried beans
Sweet potatoes
Bean, pepper, onion mixture
Quinoa
Green onion
Put back in the oven and bake for 10 min on 425. Remove from oven and enjoy. I like to serve this with some greens. So delicious. Please let me know if you make these and tag me at itsapegslife.
This recipe is coming to you from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Her newest cookbook is called, “I Can Cook Vegan,” and it’s a winner!
Let me tell you, Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie is definitely a keeper and one of our new favorites. And for those meat eaters in your family—they won’t even know that it’s Vegan :).
I prefer to leave the oil out of recipes, so I subbed veg. broth to saute the ingredients. I actually didn’t even oil the pan before putting the ingredients in and it was great. You can choose for yourself what you would like to do.
Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie
Serves 8
2 cups cold vegetable broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 yellow onion, chopped into medium dice
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced into half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 pound cremini mushrooms, chopped into pea-size pieces
3 tablespoons fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups cooked lentils, cooked in vegetable broth (do not add salt)
1 cup frozen peas
1 recipe Classic Mashed Potatoes (at the bottom of the post)
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (optional)
1. In a measuring cup, mix together the broth and cornstarch until the starch is mostly dissolved. Mix in the tomato paste and set aside.
2. Preheat a large pan over medium heat. Saute the onion and carrots in a bit of veg. broth with a pinch of salt until the onions are lightly browned, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so, just until fragrant. Add the celery, mushrooms, and thyme with a bunch of fresh black pepper and salt. Let cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have released a lot of moisture.
3. Add the lentils and use your spatula to mush them in the pan to create a “ground beef” effect. Add the corstarch-broth mixture and mix well. Let cook until the filling is thick and gravy-like, about 7 minutes. Fold in the peas. Taste for salt and seasoning.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 11 x 13 inch casserole dish. Transfer the filling to the casserole in an even layer. Dollop the mashed potatoes over the top, starting at the edges and working your way in, and then use a rubber spatula to spread them relatively smoothly.
5. Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet to collect any juices that bubble over. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes are browned. Let cool a bit before sprinkling with parsley, if desired, and serving.
Classic Mashed Potatoes
2 1/2 lbs. new potatoes, peelings on (cooked in instant pot for 13 min. with natural pressure release or you can boil them)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup whole unroasted cashews (if you own a high speed blender, you don’t have to boil these beforehand. If you don’t own one, then boil for 20 minutes to soften.)
2/3 cup vegetable broth, at room temperature
Freshly ground pepper
1. Cook potatoes.
2. While potatoes are cooking, place cashews and vegetable broth in a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth, scrapping the sides occasionally with a spatula to get everything.
3. When the potatoes are done cooking, drain and return to pot. Mash them with a potato masher to break them up a bit. Add half of the cashew mixture and the salt and pepper. Mash with potato masher until relatively smooth and no big chunks are left.
4. Add the remaining cashew mixture, mix it in and mash some more until it is mixed well. And there you have it! Enjoy!
P.S. All of the recipes I make from other bloggers/cookbook authors/instagramers (you get it 🙂 have a Peg twist to them, so if you look up the recipes on line they will be slightly different :).
It's a peg's life 