Make your own seitan for the game tonight + Vegan news you can use (2/5/12)

I heard there is a sporting event today? All I know is that Madonna will be live in concert tonight and I sure won’t miss that! So I’m going to make seitan fajitas to celebrate The Material Girl.

Last month my friend Christy, The Blissful Chef, wrote a series of pressure cooker posts (be still my beating heart). This one, Pressure-Cooked Seitan, made me swoon! I could not wait to try it. Well, yesterday I did try it and, folks, it’s a game changer. I pulled out my KitchenAid because I wanted to use the dough hook for the kneading — upon later reflection, I realize this step wasn’t necessary in this particular seitan recipe. Christy uses vital wheat gluten which means the gluten has already been separated from the starch. Seitan recipes from scratch (utilizing whole wheat flour) require a series of rinsing steps in which you wash away the starch (like the Candle 79 seitan recipe). So my point here is you don’t need a stand mixer for kneading for this recipe.

I had all of the ingredients on hand so I was able to mix the seitan up in under 10 minutes and then, instead of cooking seitan on the stove top for hours and hours, I pressure cooked it for 30 minutes.

Seitan, mashed sweet potatoes and gravy

This was so easy and such a time-saver. I really like Christy’s recipe because it tastes great on its own (see above, I simply steamed two pieces with a little broth and then smothered with gravy) but is great for a base seitan for any recipe you may want to use. My only note is that I would use less liquid smoke (or omit it all together, depending upon it’s intended use).

If you want to make “sausages” for the game tonight I would suggest adding fennel seeds, paprika and red pepper flakes to the recipe and roll up several little sausages from the seitan dough before adding to the pressure cooker.
I’m going to slice up a few of the cutlets and saute them in Sriracha and taco seasoning for fajitas!
If you are hard-pressed for time, make the Shredded Apple and Veggie Salad with Goji Berry Dressing recipe I posted yesterday. Simple and tasty!

Enough about food prep for Madonna’s concert, on to the news…

…actually the vegan news I found this week? Mostly SuperBowl and Valentine’s Day-related. I didn’t find it all that interesting, so, instead, I’m going to direct you to a few blog posts I found particularly thought-provoking.

My friend Gena wrote a great piece that tackles lookism, sexism and fear mongering when it comes to a plant-based diet. Her follow-up post was equally compelling. I hope you’ll read both and share your thoughts:

I think you’ll find Gena’s commentary, and ensuing comments, a fascinating read.

My friend Sarah wrote an interesting post, When You Fast And Your Partner Doesn’t (Or Vice Versa), that I found interesting because I live in a house in which my husband and I do not follow the same diet and, fasting or not, there are points for consideration.

Finally, I will end with the one bit of horrible news I came across on my local TV station yesterday: Diving Horses Raise Concerns in New Jersey I was disgusted. You can sign a petition to try to stop this!

This week on the blogs

JL goes Vegan

MONDAY: FAQ #1: Why all the changes post-40? Finally, I attempt to break down the mission and vision of this blog through a series of FAQ posts. The first one felt video worthy, which is why I vlogged it.
THURSDAY: Black-Eyed Pea and Collard Green Pizza It just made sense to me.
SATURDAY: Shredded Apple and Veggie Salad with Goji Berry Dressing A lazy Friday night raw dinner.

Stop Chasing Skinny

I kicked off the February series with my own thoughts on Pursuing health, instead of chasing skinny. I will begin posting community member stories on the same topic next week. Are you pursuing health, instead of chasing skinny? Submit today!

Whether your watch football, the Madonna “concert” or skip it all to read a great book, have a marvelous Sunday!

Tagged as: seitan, vegan news, weekly round-up

marianne

I love your blog and now feel I can make seitan with that simple recipe. I am looking into buying a pressure cooker. Do you recommend any specific brands? Thanks

http://jlgoesvegan.com JL

Marianne, thank you! I love my Presto pressure cooker (I have two, a 4-quart and a 6-quart). It’s the standard stove top, “jiggly” top pressure cooker. I love the brand and recommend it often!
http://twitter.com/TheBlissfulChef Christy Morgan

I love Fagor brand. I have the 8 quart for those times I’m doing bigger batches of things, but 6 should be fine for a 1 or 2 person household. There are videos on my site using it and you can find it on Amazon and Bed Bath and Beyond if you want to check it out.

Sarah E.

Thank you for linking to, and for your excellent commentary on, my blog, JL! I think a lot of folks deal with different eating/lifestyle patterns than their partners, and sometimes even folks who eat the “same” diet more or less choose to eat differently at different times (or, in the case of this article, fast or not fast). I’ve heard it’s common for guys who are vegan to eat differently than women, and even as two women we come up against it. Interesting to think about what it would be like to date a non-vegan and try to find common ground! You’re an inspiration. Thanks again, love <3
http://www.choosingraw.com/ Gena

Thank you so much for the links! You and your work were of course at the front of my mind as I wrote those particular posts
http://twitter.com/therawproject Christine

Very interesting on making seitan, I’ve never tried it. But this makes it look simple. I’m also still considering a pressure cooker, may just have to finally grab one.
Dermie

LOLed so hard “food prep for Madonna’s concert”..oh JL <3
http://bittsblog.blogspot.com bitt

The seitan kind of looks like real meat! I guess that’s sort of what you were going for, huh? You make it look so good but I’ll never be able to eat it.

Have a good weekend! Or rest of it.
http://www.facebook.com/maggies84 Maggie Sagarra

I have to try seitan again. I made it twice and was so bad that for almost a year I didn’t try it again.
http://healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com/ Wendy (Healthy Girl’s Kitchen)

Have you ever tried the steaming method of seitan making? That too only takes 30 minutes.

http://jlgoesvegan.com JL

I wonder if both methods work at 30 minutes because it uses wheat gluten, instead of whole wheat flour? Because I don’t think the Candle 79 seitan recipe, made from scratch would have been done, not even close, in 30 minutes!

http://twitter.com/TheBlissfulChef Christy Morgan

I’ve tried steaming, baking, a combination of ways and nothing gives as lovely texture as this pressure cooked method. Other methods produce either too spongy or too much like bread consistency.

http://jlgoesvegan.com JL

How about from scratch, Christy (meaning WW flour, rinsed repeatedly, versus vital wheat gluten which requires no rinsing?

http://twitter.com/TheBlissfulChef Christy Morgan

I haven’t made it from scratch since culinary school! I pick my battles

Ree

I made the pressure cooker seitan last night and had it for lunch today. I made cutlets after finding a recipe from Robin Robertson’s 1000 Vegan Recipes. You slice the seitan then dredge it in Panko bread crumbs mixed with some parsley, salt & pepper. Then fry in a wee bit of olive oil until crispy brown on both sides. Squeeze some lemon on it at the end… DELICIOUS. I think I will make my seitan in the pressure cooker from now on! Thanks so much.

http://jlgoesvegan.com JL

That sounds delicious! I’m going to make seitan again this weekend. I’m thinking one batch of cutlets and one of “sausages.” I’m with you — pressure cooker seitan is the way to go!
http://twitter.com/TheBlissfulChef Christy Morgan

Glad you liked it Ree! I have more recipes featuring the pc on my site and in my book!

Pingback: A typical bulk cooking weekend + Happy Herbivore recipe testing
http://twitter.com/TheBlissfulChef Christy Morgan

So glad you liked the seitan, I was so excited when I saw you had tried it! How many servings to you think that log makes?

http://jlgoesvegan.com JL

I would say six to eight — I’ve eaten four meals from half of it and I froze the other half!

Ree

Hi Christy,
Yes I found the recipe for your orange coconut muffins and made them this morning for breakfast. Awesome! I especially enjoy seeing the video of how things are made and supposed to look. I remember recipes better that way too. Thanks for all you do.