Pantry Challenge Day 4 - Jerk Seitan with fruity quinoa

My favorite description of jerk flavors is, of course, from Isa Moskowitz. She says that when you're putting the jerk seasoning together, you're thinking that there is no way that these flavors will go together. When the final product comes out and you taste it, you're a jerk for ever questioning.

I used a prepurchased block of seitan that had been sitting in my fridge for weeks. I'm out of vegetables, so I was hoping that by adding some dried fruit to the quinoa then that would count...sort of.

Jerk seitan

Ingredients
seitan, cut into bite-size pieces
red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch each of allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon

1) Put everything in a non-stick skillet. Saute for about 5-8 minutes, until the seitan is heated through and slightly browned.

Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
handful dried fruit - I used about 1/4 cup each of dates and cherries
1/4 cup crushed pecans

1) In a saucepan, bring the veg broth to a light boil. Add the quinoa. Reduce heat to low,cover, and cook 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Taste it to make sure its done; it may need a few more minutes. The measurements here are less finicky than when you're cooking other things, like rice. If the quinoa starts looking dry before it is done cooking, add some water or broth. If its done but still kind of watery, just let the cover off the saucepan and let it evaporate over low heat.

2) When the quinoa is done cooking, stir in the fruits and nuts. I was thinking of adding some curry spice here, but I decided against it because the broth made it so flavorful.

From Food pics

(This is really one of those times that I wish EJ was here to do the photography; he would have made this dish much more appetizing than I can. But I promise - it was really good!!)

Seitan Pot Pie

I adapted this recipe from my friend April, who adapted it from the Veganomicon. This particular recipe isn't vegan because I used butter and a store bought pie crust, but it would be super easy to make vegan, so that's why I'm tagging this as vegan. I'm not really a fan of "all american" meals, but this is really filling and hearty, and wonderful on a cold night.

Ingredients:
(I suggest getting the veggies cut and the broth ready before you begin, you'll be stirring so much you won't have time to prepare them later. Don't forget to let your pie crust thaw, too!))
1. Pre-made pie crust (you can use just the top, or the top and the bottom) (puff pastry works well too!)
2. About a quarter of a recipe seitan, cut into chunks, or more as you like it (I would say I used about 3 cups of seitan all together)
3. 1/2 a white onion, diced
4. 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
5. 2 celery sticks, sliced
6. one potato, diced
7. 3/4 cup frozen peas (or corn, if you prefer)
8. 3/4 cup cut-up broccoli florets (make them pretty small)
9. 2/3 cup + 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
10. salt, pepper, thyme, to taste
11. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
12. 3 tbs butter (or vegan margarine!)

1. Saute the seitan in a little bit of oil for about 8-10 minutes, or until browned. Set aside.

2. In a large saucepot, make your roux. Melt the butter and add the flour, stirring constantly until it browns.

3. Add the onions, stirring pretty constantly. Careful, they'll stick to the bottom, and you don't want that to happen.

4. Stir in the potatoes, carrots and celery; stir for about 8 minutes.

5. Pour in 2/3 c of the veg broth. Stir enough to get the browned bits of roux off the bottom of the pot. Add the frozen peas.

6. Add about half the remaining broth (about 3/4 of a cup). Add your salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. Bring to a simmer.

7. Add the rest of the broth, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce has reduced to a gravy-like consistency.

8. At this time, prepare your pie crust. Grease a large pie plate or cast-iron pot. Roll out the bottom of the pie crust until it is about an inch (n each side) larger than your pie plate. Carefully lift the pie crust into the plate and make sure its snug in there.

9. Spoon the seitan mixture into the pie crust. Roll out the top of the crust and carefully place it over the seitan mixture.

10. Crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork and brush the top with soy milk or egg. Make a few slits in the top for steam to escape, and bake for 45 minutes at 375. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before serving - its hot!

From Food pics

From Food pics

Seitan Wings

EJ and I recently spent time in Denver, where we saw a lot of friends and family. Some of our dear, dear friends brought us to this AMAZING vegetarian restaurant called Watercourse. It was SO. GOOD. One of the appetizers we ordered were seitan wings, which EJ and I fell in love with. Of course when I came home, I tried to re-create them, and I was very pleased with the outcome.

I'm putting 2 versions here; the baked version is clearly healthier, but the fried version tastes better.

Ingredients (Fried):
Seitan
1/4 cup soy milk
2 tbs garbanzo flour (but I would bet that any flour would work well)
Panko bread crumbs
Veg oil, for frying.

1. Mix the milk and flour together with a fork until all lumps are gone.
2. Cover each piece of seitan with the flour mixture, and then toss in bread crumbs.
3. Heat oil in skillet. Fry each piece of seitan ~5 minutes on each side, or until brown and crispy.

Baked.
Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a cookie sheet with oil, and bake the seitan about 15-20 minutes on each side, until brown and crispy.

Serve with your favorite sauce (buffalo, teriyaki, barbecue...EJ and I ate it with some peanut sauce).

From Food pics

Seitan from scratch

Seitan is this uber healthy food made from what gluten flour. The main ingredients here are wheat gluten flour and water; everything else is for flavoring, so feel free to change it up. I found this recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance. Its a little time consuming, but its so worth it.

Ingredients:
2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1 c cold vegetable broth
1/2 soy sauce
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tbs olive oil
2 cloved garlic, minced super fine, or grated

Broth:
12 cups cold water or cold veg broth
1/2 cup soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, mix vital wheat gluten, yeast, and flour. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (not the broth).

2. Pour the wet into the dry and mix. Knead (i do this inside the bowl) for about 5 minutes. The dough should be spongy and elastic.

3. In the meantime, prepare a pretty large saucepot with the broth. Keep the broth cold though, this is important for the texture of the seitan.

4. Isa suggests rolling the seitan into a log about 10 inches long and cutting it into about 6 pieces of equal size. I felt like these would be HUGE pieces, so mine were a lot smaller. I made several logs about 4 inches long with about the width of four fingers. The smaller the pieces, the more spongy and soft the pieces will be is what I gathered.

5. Place the seitan pieces in the broth and bring the broth to a boil, partially covering the pot.

6. When the broth is boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer for an hour (covered), turning the seitan periodically.

7. Turn the heat off and let the broth/seitan cool for 30 minutes. This helps the seitan become firm.

8. If you're not using the seitan right away, cut into chunks and store in the broth in a sealed container for a few days.

Seitanic Sandwiches

Truly one of my favorite recipes.

These sandwiches are a must for any vegetarian - or for that matter, any non-vegetarian who wants a healthier alternative to steak and cheese. EJ and have them about once a week - sometimes more. They are very tasty and very easy to put together. Seitain is extremely versatile and uber healthy. This is super low fat and simply packed with protein. It is made from wheat gluten protein. Youo can buy seitain pre-packaged (I get mine at New Leaf), or you can make it. I've done both, and its just easier to buy it, but making your own does have advantages (you can flavor it yourself - packaged seitan has no flavor).

Ingredients:
1 package seitain
1 green bell pepper (sliced or diced)
1/2 a white onion (sliced or diced)
2 sub rolls (some weird people call them hoagie buns)
2 tbsp vegan worchestershire sauce (or any steak sauce)
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
a drop of two of liquid smoke
a couple of shakes of garlic and onion powder
shredded cheddar cheese (or whatever you like in your steak and cheese sandiwches!)

Have oven preheated to 350.

1. Saute the peppers and onions in a non stick pan with a little cooking oil for about 304 minutes, or until slightly tender.

2. Add sliced seitan.

3. Add all other ingredients. Saute until everything is hot and peppers and onions are tender.

4. Lay out sub rolls on a baking sheet. Top with desired amount of seitain mixture and add shredded cheese.

5. Put in oven for about 5 minutes, or until bread is lightly crispy and cheese is melted.

From Food pics