Mustard Glazed Stuffed Seitan Roast

Mustard Glazed Seitan Roast

This is a wonderful recipe that Laura made two years ago for Thanksgiving dinner. It is sooo good, yet she hadn't made it since - until today. She claims it's easy to make!

 Roast seitan with veggies and gravy

Ingredients

The Loaf

2 cups vital wheat gluten
2/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp herbamare
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp onion powder
2 cups cold vegetable broth
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 drops liquid smoke
2 tsp dried sage, crushed fine
1 TBSP dried thyme, crushed fine
2 tsp dried oregano, crushed fine
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 shallots

Mix all ingredients and roll out a rectangle about a foot long.

Cranberry-Herb Stuffing

1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup pecans
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp herbamare
1 onion, chopped fine
2 leeks, chopped fine
1/4 cup celery, chopped fine
5 slices white bread, cut in cubes
5 slices wheat/grainy bread, cut in cubes
1-2 cups veggie broth
1/2 cup craisins

Mix all ingredients and place in center of the rectangle; roll into a log, closing the ends.

Mustard Glaze

1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp brown sugar

Baste the stuffed loaf then bake at 350. After half hour flip and baste with the glaze; baste again after 45 minutes of baking then bake an additional 15 minutes. Altogether baking is 1 hour.

Mock Tuna Salad (No Oil)

I've posted a recipe for Mock Tuna Salad before, but as I am currently avoiding oil I have had to modify the recipe a bit, and I thought I would re-post my new, improved, modified recipe.

Oil-free Mock Tuna Wrap

I was hesitant to even try this recipe without the mayo, and I admit, I just made it without looking at the original recipe, so it's a bit different, but it was fantastic! Filling and very satisfying. Satisfies that "I need a sammich" thing we get...

Side Note: I've been following the Engine 2 Diet since May 21, 2017 and it's been an amazing journey. I have lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks and I feel more energetic and motivated to keep going. The founder, Rip Esselstyn says, "The fat you eat is the fat you wear." Of course, plant fats such as those found in nuts, seeds and avocados are fine in moderation.

Recipe:

1/2 can chickpeas drained
Roast on baking sheet at 300 for 15 minutes then toss them into a food processor.

Add to chickpeas:
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp ACV (with mother)
Pinch of freshy ground black pepper

Pulse a few times until chickpeas are about halfway mashed but not pureed. There should be lots of big pieces. Pour into a salad bowl and add:

1/2 carrot grated fine
3 tbsp minced red onion
1 apple chopped fine
15 green olives, minced

Stir and serve on a bed of fresh spinach in a tortilla.

Make it Gluten-Free

I am also eating gluten-free so I had mine on a gluten-free tortilla (made from rice).

Gluten-free Tortillas

I don't have an allergy to gluten, but perhaps a bit of intolerance or sensitivity and I find I feel better when I eat gluten-free. I tend to have symptoms such as bloating and gas, brain fog and lack of energy when I fall off that particular wagon, and that's no fun. Eating gluten-free is also no fun sometimes, but there are more and more options available now, and it's still worth it to keep feeling my best.

Mock Tuna Salad Sandwich

We've had this a few times now, so I guess you could call it a favorite. I mean, tuna salad, come on. Only not tuna! It doesn't really taste the same as tuna either, but it has a similar texture and flavor. You could always add nori to make it taste fishier, but the chickpeas already have a somewhat briny taste.

Mock tuna sandwich

Chickpeas Roasted & Whizzed

The lovely lady who tipped us off about the existence of this delightful sandwich also recommended we roast the chickpeas, although the recipe doesn't say to do that. It gives them a chewier texture. Another thing I do with the chickpeas is toss them into the food processor an pulse it a couple times after they've been roasted and whiz them up a little so they don't roll out of your sandwich.

Mock Tuna Salad Recipe

Original recipe
1 can of chickpeas, drained and roasted (350 for 15 mins)
2 tbsp vegenaise
2 tsp dijon
1 tbsp relish
2 green onions
Salt & pepper

We like to serve it on a bed of lettuce on a toasted bun.

Make it Your Own

You can also tweak the recipe to your own taste or according to what's on hand. For instance, we didn't have relish so we diced a garlic dill. We snipped a pile of chives instead of using green onions. And, we've also added fresh dill weed and diced Granny Smith apple.

Vegan Sausages

Vegan sausage with fries

How Yummy Were They?

I was doubtful about the sausages but man, these things are way better than any store-bought kinds we've tried. I LOVED them! But then, I'm not a fan of soy-based food, so the ones at the store generally stay right there on the shelves for the most part. We had them a couple times but they don't hold a candle to these.

This was our second meal of them and Missy happened to stop by so she got to try them as well. She also really enjoyed them. Definitely worth keeping the recipe - and sharing it for any of you who want to try. You'd be surprised how much you might enjoy them!

Sausages and onions frying

The sausages are boiled first then cooled, then fried. They puffed up a lot during the steaming and we found them to be pretty thick so we sliced them in half before frying, and found that they made a more manageable meal.

Vegan Sausage Recipe

Original recipe here.
Modifications to original recipe include:

• Added 2 tsp ground fennel 
• Added an extra tsp smoked paprika
• Didn't have chick peas; substituted 1/2 cup chick pea flour and 1/3 cup water
• Didn't have veg broth; substituted vegetable cocktail (like V8)
• Omitted the oil
• We're not sure the flour was gluten as the bag was unmarked

Ingredients:
½ cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup cold vegetable broth
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP soy sauce
1¼ cups vital wheat gluten
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp thyme
1½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 bay leaves, finely crumbled
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sage
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine. Roll into sausage shapes. Wrap in parchment paper and twist the ends to shape them. Steam for 40 minutes. Ready to freeze or refrigerate, then you can take them out and fry them or throw them on the barbeque.

Rolling sausages

We think they will be fantastic on the barbeque with some of my yummy homemade BBQ sauce.

Steamed sausages

My BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
Pinch of hot chili pepper

Roast "Beef" Sandwich

I think I gave up beef about 5 years ago. I have not had a roast beef sandwich in a very long time. Now, it may be the case that I don't really remember what one is supposed to taste like, but I don't think that is the case. At all. In fact, I had a couple other people try this sandwich and they both agreed it was pretty darn close if not just like the real deal. Only again, no beasts were harmed.

Roast "Beef" Sandwich

Seitan Mushroom Roast

Laura made the seitan roast for Easter dinner. It was good although it didn't have an exact roast beef taste or texture. But, it was comparable.

Mushroom Seitan Roast recipe here.

Seitan Loaf

The next day, I had the idea to slice it thinly and use it to make a sandwich. And wow. It was the most amazing thing! The texture was very believable, the taste, with the mustard, was crazily similar to real beef, and I was in heaven to find another of my old favorites revamped to be enjoyed as a vegan meal.

Sandwich & Potato Salad

Was so good served with a scoop of potato salad!

Lemon "Chicken"

I made a big batch of cauliflower "chicken" today (178 pieces) using 2 heads of cauliflower, which was on sale at Atlantic SuperStore for $2.49/head. I did all the breading and baked them, then Laura used about 18 of them to make Lemon "Chicken". So amazing!

Lemon Cauliflower 

We served the cauliflower with basmati rice and green beans. It was truly delicious, and really does have a boneless wing or popcorn chicken sort of texture, without the need to devour any animals.

Lemon Sauce recipe

Here is the process:

Prepare the Cauliflower
1. Cut cauliflower into bit-sized pieces.
2. Soak in 10 parts water to 3 parts vinegar for 15 - 20 minutes to clean it well. Any insects that were missed in the cutting step will come out as well.
3. Dry the pieces on paper towel.

Coat the Cauliflower
(this is the time-consuming part of the process if you're doing a lot of them at once)
4. Mix equal parts flour and water in an enormous bowl. I used 5 cups of each since I made a huge amount. Like I said, 178 pieces.
5. Place about 15 pieces of cauliflower in the bowl and stir to coat each piece completely with the batter.
6. Dump a bag of panko bread crumbs into another large bowl.
7. One piece at a time, remove the cauliflower from the batter, shake off excess batter and place into the crumbs. Roll around until completely coated.
8. Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet.
9. Place each piece of breaded cauliflower on the parchment, spaced so they don't touch each other.

Bake the Cauliflower
10. Bake 15 minutes on 400 degrees F.
11. Turn over.
12. Bake another 15 minutes on 400 degrees F.

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n

The fajitas were the best thing I ate all year...until this. This beats the hell out of anything I've eaten this year. Or last year. Or maybe every year. I've seen recipes for "cauliflower mock chicken wings" as they circulate around the internet, and have been curious to try them, and I guess this recipe is pretty much the same thing.

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n

Cauliflower replaces chicken in this recipe and it does a pretty darn good job of it. It's amazing! It's served with rice, green beans and red peppers and we topped it with more of the General Tso sauce, sesame seeds and raw cashews. A bit high in sodium, but not all that unhealthy. The cauliflower is baked, not fried, so there is no oil at all in the recipe. You just wash, dry and bread bite-sized cauliflower florets then bake them. Then add the sauce.

Cauliflower Discected

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n recipe here

Like Chicken, But Better

The roasted breaded cauliflower gets re-baked in the General Tso sauce and the result is very similar to boneless chicken wings. It doesn't have a chicken flavor, but the sauce provides the flavors you're looking for and the cauliflower has a great texture. When you bite into one of them it's very much the same as having boneless chicken. You know when you bite into a chicken wing and you sometimes get a mouthful of chicken fat? Some might enjoy it, but I used to spit it out and pretend it never happened while trying to continue to enjoy my meal. Well, with the cauliflower, you never get a bite like that! You can sink your teeth in and know there is no fat, vein, gristle, bone or cartilage to impede your chewing pleasure. S'all good, and that's a quality about eating veg that I really appreciate. So, when I say this is better than eating real chicken wings, or real chicken balls, I mean that wholeheartedly! They taste as good, they have a better texture and there is no mental "I'm eating an animal" barrier preventing me from 100% enjoyment.

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n on Basmati Rice

General Tso Sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced
1" ginger, minced
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sriracha

Until Next Time

I'm not even kidding, both times we've had these I've eaten until stuffed and still kept going. Ugh! But, they're so good! Missy, who was here for dinner, agreed they would be good with any sauce you would serve on chicken: barbeque, orange or lemon sauce, sweet & sour, teriyaki, honey garlic, etc. We don't rate our meals anymore, because these are pretty much all favorites, but Missy gave it a 9. I say 10, personally.

We made a double batch and froze the other half for another meal. Hmmm....Lemon Chicken, maybe?

Fajitas

Seitan-based fajitas. Possibly the best thing I ate so far in 2016. Maybe even 2015 as well. Served with Laura's homemade tortillas and fresh avocado, they were pretty much perfect.

Vegan Fajitas

Vegan Fajitas

If you would like a Step-by-Step for making fajitas, click here. We've made these many times, from meat versions to vegetarian ones, but this time, totally vegan.

Dairy Sub
We substituted the sour cream for a Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream (disagree, but it's not terrible - works for fajitas). It's a soy-based, dairy-free sour cream substitute. It has the texture and most of the the tang you get from sour cream, but has that soy bean flavor too, and I haven't really warmed up to it. If you're serving it with stronger flavors it's perfect. And if you're serving it with beans (like with chili) the flavor blends in better, too.

Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream

Fajita Filling
We added seitan, which was actually delicious and very much like beef but without the animal fat.

The veggies were the typical onion/pepper variety, along with some limes which were used with cumin to cook the veggies in and squeeze over the filling before wrapping.

Fajita Filling

Everything Else
Laura made the tortillas, which were unbelievable. It's hard to go back to store brands once you've had them homemade, too. Even when she really doesn't feel like making them, she usually does anyway, just because it's so worth it.

They were served with fresh avocado, salsa and the sour cream sub. Best thing I ever ate. Total 10.

Vegan Tortilla with Avocado & Lime

Philly Not-Cheese Melts

So yep, these can go on my "Favorites" list any day...

Philly Melt

Seitan

Loving the seitan. This time, we bought the gluten flour but somehow forgot to use it and made the seitan with regular flour - and it was delish! It was kind of a happy accident.

Seitan is wonderful because it takes whatever flavors you give it, and has a much, MUCH meatier texture than soy, and allows us to have those meals that are kind of lame without the "meat". Like these Philly melts.

If you're interested in making it, this is the recipe we used.

Seitan

Philly Melts

A Philly Melt is short for Philadelphia Steak and Cheese Sandwich and is a steak and cheese oven sub topped with sautéed onions and peppers, and in this case, mushrooms. Alas, I did not stop loving them when I stopped eating meat and dairy. So, using substitutes for the meat and cheese is the answer to maintaining a vegan diet while not having to give up all your favorite meals. We used Earth Somethingorother "mozzarella" for the "melt" part. More on that and other subs in a later post.

Verdict?
I'm dedicated to keeping this blog real, so I can't lie and say this is exactly like the real thing. Or that it's better (just my opinion, Laura disagrees). But, it was still fantastic, and granted us our daily doses of protein and Vitamins A and C as a bonus!

The sub looks bad in the photo because I forgot to take a pic while it still looked pretty. I had already cut it in half and since it was overstuffed, the filling, sauce and breadcrumbs went everywhere. Still looks yummy, eh? It really was...

Philly Melt

Seitan Fried "Chicken"

This meal was actually seitan fried "chicken" with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, corn and biscuits. Laura's doing. My part was shopping and peeling potatoes.

Seitan Fried "Chicken" 

What is Seitan?

It's a meat substitute made from the gluten or protein of wheat. It can be made to mimic pretty much any kind of meat; beef, chicken, pork, etc and can take many forms from roasts and flanks to wings and fillets, or even ground meat or jerky. It takes whatever flavor and color you use to flavor it and has a deceptively meaty texture. Ours was kind of yellow from the turmeric.

Seitan before battering & frying

Seitan Fried "Chicken" 

Sooo. I thought this was really good, especially for a first stab at it. I even went back for seconds! I can see how the flavor and texture could both be better, but it was still pretty freaking good. The flavors used were turmeric, garlic powder and onion powder in the seitan itself and in the crispy batter she used her dried herbs from last summer's garden. The flavor was pretty good, but the turmeric sort of took over a bit.

As for texture it was a rather believable chicken texture, but of a fatty chicken. A little on the rubbery side. Regardless of this, I still liked it better than grocery store substitutes. And, Laura is researching ways to improve it as we speak, so next time it will be even better.

Laura making seitan

Here is the recipe she went by, after watching many videos about how to make it. When you put it in the hot oil, it expands A LOT. More than you'd expect. This could be partly why it seemed "fatty", because it really fluffed up in the oil.

Easy but Not Cheap

Laura said it was easy to make. I would have to add that it's also somewhat pricey if you're comparing to other flours, but cheap in comparison to meat. We found the wheat gluten at the Bulk Barn after striking out at Atlantic SuperStore and Sobey's. We paid $7.14 for 3 1/2 cups. She used 2 cups in her recipe. Still cheaper than chicken. And kinder.

Laura being silly

Best Served with Potatoes

Like anything. I'm kidding of course. I think anything is best served with potatoes. And corn. Or some other yummy veg. As for Laura, biscuits and gravy are her chicken sides. Altogether, it was a fantastic meal.

Seitan with potatoes, corn, gravy & biscuits

Next Time, Maybe This!

Balsamic BBQ Seitan & Tempeh Ribs