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A fiery, red-headed newbie Vegan who loves wine, food, reading, writing, and all things curious.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Seitan & Peppers And Some Sweetness On The Side

Learning how to navigate a whole new culinary world will result in a lot of firsts. First tofu scramble, first bite of tempeh, first flat-hockey puck of a cake because I am still learning the perfect egg-replacer and rising ingredients...

One thing that was put off for a bit was: Seitan.  This little devil is a meat substitute made of wheat gluten and is an alternative to soy-based "meats". I know it is a preferred choice for many vegans, but every time I passed in the aisle I just didn't see the allure. That is until one day, I found this:

GROUND SEITAN

I figured if I stomached all those horrible ground meats all these years, I can definitely do this. So what to do with it? 
When in doubt...
                                 ...put it in a sandwich!

Seitan & Peppers Sandwich with Daiya Mozzarella

I spiced the seitan with a little garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and oregano and heated it. Grabbed a perfect Italian roll,  put on the seitan, and topped it with caramelized onions, sauteed red bell pepper, pepperoncini, and Daiya Mozzarella. A little ketchup on the side, just in case. And this was a happy sandwich!

I am no longer a seitan virgin. 

Now, we should always have room for a little sweetness in our lives. This cake isn't too sweet but the orange glaze gave it such a nice citrus-y smile. This will make a nice finish to that Thanksgiving dinner coming up!



Almond Cake With Orange Glaze

Ingredients:

21/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Almond Meal, (ground almonds)
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Almond Extract
1 cup Almond Milk
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1/3 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Water

For Glaze:

2 cups Sifted Confectioner's Sugar
2 tsp Orange Extract
3 drops red food coloring 
2 drops yellow food coloring
Almond Milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, F. Grease a bundt pan. (Could use a 9x13 pan also) Combine flours, almond meal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk together until combined.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together all of the other ingredients until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. 
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. 
4. To make glaze put confectioner's sugar, food coloring, and extract in the bowl of stand-up mixer OR be prepared to use a hand mixer. Add almond milk, SLOWLY in TABLESPOON increments while mixing, to achieve the silky, glaze. 
My glaze was on the thin side and the cake resembled a large glazed doughnut, and I didn't really see anything wrong with a large glazed doughnut.  :)






9 comments:

  1. The cake looks great!

    We love seitan and have it in several dishes. If cooked right, it's so good. :)

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  2. All I can say is Yummo! I'm going to try your cake recipe. And did you end up liking the seitan sandwich? I think the seasonings you used sound terrific.

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  3. Thanks! The cake is so tasty. I did like the seitan sandwich, it was really good. Had a lot of flavor like a traditional sausage and peppers sandwich.

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  4. Seitan sandwich looks great! When you get daring you should try making your own seitan. I did it for the first time this year for Father's Day for my husband and we haven't bought premade since! SO easy, delicious and cheap! :)

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  5. Thanks! Making my own seitan is certainly on the list of to-dos! I have heard that it isn't too difficult.

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  6. I make seitan every few days and it is super-simple. One of my favorite recipes for it is from my friend Nava Atlas who is a vegan cookbook writer. Here is a link to one of her recipes for seitan. www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/homemade-seitan/
    It is so easy. You can get the vital wheat gluten in Wal-Mart in the baking department in boxes. You just mix the dry ingredients, add the wet, do a bit of kneading and let it rest while you assemble the broth in a pot and bring it to a simmer. Then simply slice the seitan the way you want it (it will swell up huge so feel free to slice thin), toss it in the broth, simmer for an hour, then drain and cool. It is cheaper and easier to make seitan yourself.

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  7. Oh wow great! Thanks Terri. I love Nava's cookbooks. Such wonderful recipes.

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  8. She is a friend and such a sweetheart. You will love making homemade seitan. I vary the taste by adding things like liquid smoke to the wet ingredients and the broth, for example, when making a seitan barbecue or I'll use Not Beef or Not Chicken vegan bouillion cubes in the dry ingredients and the broth to make the seitan taste a special way. It is soooo easy to do. Cheaper than store bought too.

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  9. I am going to give this a whirl this weekend. :)

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