Seitan - General Guidance
Well friends, I girded my loins and tried making my own seitan yesterday. I had trawled the Net for info and some of it was contradictory, others were confusing, but I did find out how to make it with gluten powder and when to freeze it--after the initial cooking.
I always follow the easiest recipe thru the way it says the first time and go from there. NOW I understand why they recommend you add seasonings, herbs, mushroom powder etc. to the gluten mix...it tastes of absolutely nothing, as is. I mean, imagine eating an eraser. OK as a chewing exercise...flavour, not so much! LOL I also understand why they suggest you work it very little (mine was almost as dense as me!) and if it weren't 100º out I might have tried baking instead of boiling it.
BUT...and it's a big but...after I had laughed at the way it swells up when you boil it and looks like something out of a biology lab, and tasted it and found it...well, completely tasteless...I sliced it up and marinaded it in an African barbecue sauce. And DH the carnivore tasted it and did NOT go "Gross!" or laugh at me about it. We agreed the recipe and method need "tweaking" and that I need to print out the instructions and follow them closely, but that we are definitely onto something, at less than a dollar a pound for pure food, no waste. No bones, no fat, no cholesterol...and cheap! He ate some and said maybe we should put it in a curry etc.
10 years ago or even 5 he would have laughed at me and made "cute" remarks all the time I was trying to eat it. Now he agrees we need to eat less meat and things like this will help that. From his point of view it is purely economic (he is facing disability retirement) but hey, any start is a good one. Now if I could just get him to eat things with leaves and roots... ::)
Add some ramen, greens like spinach or kale, some bean sprouts, tofu cubes, sliced fresh jalapeno and have yourself some soup. Give it a swirl of sriracha and a splash of lime juice. That broth would be perfect!
I've made that recipe before, and I just froze the broth to use for next time. Of course, that only works if you have enough freezer space.
I freeze it to use for my next batch of seitan.
this is my first time making seitan from home. and my first time even really seeing it or eating it, haha. i'm using the "easiest seitan" recipe from this very website. i know you're not supposed to boil the seitan, and i didn't. i did, however, make the mistake (at least, i'm assuming this was a mistake) of putting a lid halfway on the pot - causing the seitan to expand in GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS. it was filling up the large pot with its hugeness! so, i took the lid off, and thankfully it shrank back down to what i'm hoping is a normal size. it is a lot bigger than it was when i first put it in, though. i just wanted to see if anyone could tell me whether or not this seitan will still be usable. i'm planning on making the seitan gyros from vegan express by nava atlas (such a good cook book!) and i'm afraid it might not work now :( thanks in advance!
nickey
it won't kill you & it will probably taste normal, but the texture might be a little weird. but who knows- it might work out for slicing it up for gyros.. let us know how it turns out!
we usually boil it to get more out of it, its a lot less tough and thick when you boil it. its a little bit lighter. we like it boiled and then cooked additionally. and to have the lid slightly off is how you should be boiling/simmering it. i believe.
Yeah, I usually simmer or steam mine before I finish cooking. I wouldn't think boiling it would ruin it, I bet it's fine.
the recipe that i used when i made chicken style seitan said to "NOT BOIL" so of course i accidently set the temp too high and it started boiling.. i turned it back down and it turned out fine, it definitely didnt pillow up though.
Yeah, I usually simmer or steam mine before I finish cooking. I wouldn't think boiling it would ruin it, I bet it's fine.
Boiling seitan makes it soft and "brainy"
im going to try to unread that last comment... i hate the word 'brainy' in the context of food.. gah!!! i knew it would probably get mentioned but it always creeps me out. ughh ick!
im going to try to unread that last comment... i hate the word 'brainy' in the context of food.. gah!!! i knew it would probably get mentioned but it always creeps me out. ughh ick!
i hate that word, and 'gamey'. ewww. but um, anyway, the seitan turned out fine, or at least i think so since i ate it and didn't die or anything ;). the texture was a bit chewier than i wanted it to be, but that is probably because i didn't fry it quite long enough cause i was hungry. thanks for you help guys!
A friend of mine is quite sick. She recovered from thyroid cancer and now the synthetic thyroid meds shes on are attacking her heart- but she has to be on them becasue she does not have even a single thyroid cell left. :( I went over to see her yesterday and she was saying how she wants to stat eating healthier and wants her steak addict husband to also. So they are trying to do 2 dinners a week that are vegetarian. I'm going to let her barrow some of my cookbooks, of course- but she is so tiered and worn out right now---and her hubby doesn't want to cook anything but red meat. So I want to try and make a few meals for the...maybe even one a week. I want the meals to be nutritious and comforting, but tasty, satisfying to a meat lover, and educational- so they can try the recipes themselves, maybe even with a few ingredients that are packaged from the store so they can reproduce them later, if they like...
the caveat: She is allergic to soy.
So I was thinking of vital wheat gluten...but that is not a complete protein, right? What do I have to combine it with? I know of course that beans combined with rice make a complete protein...what about if you combine it with quinoa or amaranth grain? What about lentils combined with rice? They are also watching their cholesterol, so...its a good excuse to stay away from milk and eggs in my book...what about nuts and seeds? Those don't have cholesterol, do they? I don't want to do really really easy things like making a salad and throwing beans on it- becasue she already knows that recipe and that is one that is easy enough for her to make right now- so I would rather make things that require a little more effort so that they will get a good mix of things...okay, bring on the ideas!
If you have Veganomicon (and even if you don't, I can send you the recipe) I'd make the chickpea cutlets! They have chickpeas AND vital wheat gluten (cut out the lemon zest though..that was kinda ew to me), so it's like a protein double whammy and I do believe that beans have the essential amino acid that's missing in wheat, while the wheat has the ones that are low in beans, and you can make them with different flavors--someone on here mentioned doing a curry one or something. Those baked for a little longer than the book suggests so they get a little crispy, maybe some mashed potatoes or cauliflower or a combination, some cashew based gravy and then some greens would make a good meal. Comforting, sort of familiar, but better for them.
Only animal products contain cholesterol, but the bad fats can also contribute to cholesterol in the body (saturated fats are the bad guys I think).
Quinoa is a complete protein all by itself and also contains a good amount of calcium, so you could make a dish with that..maybe a salad type thing? Or burritos with chopped up or sliced and grilled seitan or just black beans, quinoa, cilantro, guacamole, other yummies, maybe a little nooch sauce?
Soup maybe? Lentil soup always looks kinda gross, but it's ultra comforting.
You could also put together a gift basket with some essentials: a little jar of nutritional yeast, some quinoa, some kind of healthy snack like trail mix or something, vital wheat gluten, tea and a little mug for tea, some of your favorite easy recipes, whatevs so that she or the husband could try stuff out on their own.
It's really nice of you to want to do all that for them too. Awesome-est friend award goes to...VHZ!!! ;)b
ohhh...those chickpea cutlets sound delish! and that's interesting about the beans/VWG...And I LOVE making mashed potatoes! ;)b
I know I will defiantly do some soup at one point. Shes been so cold lately! :-\ I am a HUGE fan of lentil soup, so I can just make a bunch in the crock pot and bring some over for them and leave some here for us. I'm also thinking chili would be good....I have to look and see if field roast sausages have soy in them- my dad who is a great lover of meat thinks those are just the best thing since sliced bread...(don't tell anyone, but he actually still buys them even though I am not at home ;D )
Also, I think I heard that quinoa was a complete protein at one point, but then I started to disbelieve it??? Ill have to look into this, but quinoa salad is soooo good!
oh, could you email me the recipe? Or I could stop by the book store and write it down as I have not purchased my own copy yet 8-) eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%73%69%6c%6c%79%7a%65%61%6c%79%40%59%41%48%4f%4f%2e%43%4f%4d%22%3e%73%69%6c%6c%79%7a%65%61%6c%79%40%59%41%48%4f%4f%2e%43%4f%4d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b'))
E-mailed!
I honestly dont believe in "incomplete" proteins or combining foods to "complete" them. I feel you just need a wide variety of foods to adequately cover all your needs. Variety and moderation is the key.
Seitan is also anything but easy. Its finicky and takes skill and practice to develop a flavor or texture that is enjoyable, both which can be highly subjective per person. Beans are really your best bet in this instance I feel. Unless you want to make the seitan for them and then give them lessons on making it themselves.
Rice and Beans. (So many combinations here; black beans & cillantro on short grain white, canellini, diced tomato and basil over basmati, garbanzo and rosemary over quinoa. All one pot meals, easy to make, and clean up.)
Tomato sauce with tons of veggies in it for spaghetti, all the husband has to do is boil noodles and heat the sauce.
Bah, my mind is blank. I did a weeks worth of menus for someone that was soy free. I think Momof4boys? Its here somewhere. Good luck.
Bragg's is soy derived, so I wouldn't use that as a sub for soy sauce. Do you have liquid veggie bouillon or something similar, like Better than Bouillon? That might work since it's pretty salty like soy sauce, but you'd have to check ingredients to make sure they're safe.
Going off of what Cali said, lentils in spaghetti sauce. There was a recipe on here that was like Lentil Bolognese or something and it looked quite tasty. Regular seitan is kind of hard to make, but the chickpea cutlets are definitely easy. No boiling or anything weird.
VeganDad has a lot of comfort-y recipes: http://vegandad.blogspot.com/
Lasagnas (sneak some lentils in there too..and some mushrooms and spinach..) and other casseroles are also good helping out a friend recipes, and you could do some cashew thing instead of tofu ricotta... I'm still thinking about recipes, so I might post more as I think of stuff.
along w/ the gift basket idea....you could give 'em 'gifts in a jar' (ie soup mixes-just add water, etc)....I'm imagining something along the lines of lentils, dehydrated veggie stew mix (peas, carrots, onion, tomato, potato, etc), in pretty layers with powdered veggie broth/bullion mixed throughout. Have fun with it!!
It's great that they have you as a resource. I'm with Cali though and would scrounge around for tasty healthy recipes and not worry about protein. If they aren't vegetarians guaranteed their protein needs are being met in their other meals.
Combining protein is not necessary for veg*ns to do in one meal. It's the total compliation of meals eaten, and as Cali said, if you eat a variety of foods you're guaranteed to get all your essential aminio acids and have complete protein.
Minestrone with beans mmmm can throw in that seitan too!!
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