Perfect Seitan & Seitan Piccata

Woo-hoo! One day until weigh-in. I think I've done pretty good this week, I still need to curb my evening snacking but all in all I think I did fine. :o) So on with our regularly scheduled program...

Today I'm going to babble about Seitan. I love the stuff! It can be barbecued, sauteed or pan fried and it picks up whatever flavours you can throw at it, so what is it exactly?

Seitan is a vegetarian or vegan meat substitute made with wheat gluten, the protein in wheat which has been separated from the grain. High in protein and low in carbohydrates, seitan is an ideal meat replacement that can be made at home. While making seitan from scratch is a pretty time consuming job, it can also be prepared by purchasing vital wheat gluten, and either boiling or baking the mixture.

Most health food store carry gluten in small 1 pound bags.

Perfect Seitan

serves 6

mix together with a whisk:

200 gr. vital wheat gluten

25 gr. nutritional yeast

5 gr. salt

6 gr. paprika

4 gr. powdered vegetarian chicken broth

1 gr. pepper

2 gr. garlic powder

In a measuring cup mix:

275 grams water

30 olive oil

Add liquid to dry ingredients and knead for 2 minutes, shape into a log about 6-7" long and roll in a sheet of cheese cloth and tie the ends closed leaving a bit of room for expansion.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the seitan roll. Lower heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour. Let cool, unwrap and slice into 12 equal pieces.

 

 after slicing...

And here's just one of the many recipes you can prepare with it:

Seitan Piccata

serves 2

4 slices seitan

2 tsp. olive oil (10gr.)

2 tsp. vegan margarine (10gr.)

2 tbs. almond milk (30gr.)

1/4 cup flour (30gr.)

1 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbs. chopped onions (25gr.)

1 clove garlic, chopped

3/4 cup white wine (187gr.)

2 mushrooms, sliced thin (40gr.)

1 tsp. capers (5gr.)

3 tbs. lemon juice (45gr.)

1 tbs. cornstarch (8gr.)

1 tsp. Cyrches vegetable broth (7gr.)

3/4 cup water

Small handful of chopped fresh parsley

Mix flour, paprika, salt and pepper in a small dish. Dip seitan slices in the almond milk and then dredge in flour mix. Heat the oil and margarine in a pan. Fry the seitan slices until golden brown on both sides, remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan add onion and garlic and sauté until soft. Add wine, mushrooms and caper and cook until reduced by 1/2. Add lemon juice and reduce again but just slightly.

Mix together water, cornstarch and vegetable broth and add to pan. Cook until thickened and return the seitan to the pan to heat, turning once. Add parsley and serve over rice or with a baked potato.