Some Seitan, please!

Seitan? What is that? How do you pronounce that? Where can I find that?!

Well, Seitan (sa-ay-tan and yes, I have said 'Satan') can be found at Organza and Vita Health. Seitan is essentially a 'wheat meat' as it is made of wheat gluten. This is a an alternative protein for vegetarians instead of using Tofu or Tempeh. 

I really enjoy Seitan because, despite it's expensive price ($5.69 at Organza) for 225 grams, it has a high amount of protein per package. The only negative I have is that this product is made from wheat gluten so, obviously, not gluten-free. However, one of my favorite things about seitan is that it really absorbs the flavors from marinades/ sauces so there is no need to marinate hours before you make your meal! BONUS!

Now, for some nutritional facts per 100 grams;

• 124 calories 
• no saturated or trans fats
• no cholesterol
• 390 mg of sodium which is 17% of you RDA
• 6 grams of carbs
• 1 gram of fibre
• 1 gram of sugar
• 18 grams of protein (YES!)

Other than Green Cuisine brand (above), we haven't spotted any other competing seitan brands yet in the city.

However....

We spotted these babies at Whole Foods during our Minneapolis trip for a criminally low price of $3.99 each! There were about 7 flavours to choose from (!!!), and we picked up the chipotle. Fortunately, we had the foresight to bring a cooler with us on the trip, so we were able to keep the product chilled as we travelled home across the border.

Preparing it was simple. We heated it up in a pan, and it tasted exactly like Italian Tofurkey sausages except instead of it being 280 calories a sausage it was 160 calories per 114 grams. That's a big win. Plus, it's a welcome break from soy protein. 

Did you notice the packaging?! 3.2 X more protein than most tofu! And it's vegan! And there's 28 grams of protein per serving! You will also notice that for the traditional seitan, there seems to be more protein per serving. I really don't have an answer to why except that each company has their own recipe that they tinker with but in the end, it is very nutritious and it gives us veggies a break from soy and also provides a different texture to play around with in recipes! The texture reminds me of ground beef. 

You can actually make your own seitan. I have a recipe from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz on page 132 and 133 to be exact. I have never made it but you better believe it on my 'must attempt' recipe list. 

With seitan, you can deep fry it, grill it or chop it up or even add it in a fried quinoa stir fry recipe, like so... 

Fried Quinoa with Seitan

This recipe is a play on fried rice. I made it 'healthier' by using low sodium tamari and seitan to amp up the protein. 

You can be very versatile with your vegetables but I used cauliflower, butternut squash and peas. There is no need to add too many seasonings. The tamari is very flavourful with the garlic. 

Squash is a fryin'!

Quinoa cooking to the left. 

I have a 3 cup food processor that I use to grind up the seitan. Looks like veggie ground beef doesn't it?

Time to add the eggs!

Scramble them up!

Time to eat!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of chopped cauliflower in bite size pieces
• 1 cup of peas
• 1 cup of butternut squash chopped in bite size pieces
• 1 package of seitan (225 grams)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
• 1 vegetable cube
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 5 tablespoons of Tamari
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red peppers
• 2 tablepoons of olive oil
• black sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

• Use a very large non-stick frying pan if you do not have a wok available to you.
• Add both tablespoons of olive oil while the pan is heating up to medium-high heat.
• Add the garlic and once it's fragrant, add the butternut squash.
• Make sure not to burn the squash but cook until you can pierce your folk through it but not enough that it's cooked all the way through.
• While this is cooking, make quinoa as per the directions on the package. Quinoa can be prepared the same way as rice. Therefore, in this case, 1 cup of uncooked quinoa needs 2 cups of water and 1 vegetable cube.  It takes approximately 10-12 minutes. FYI- the vegetable cube adds flavour to the stir fry.
• Add the cauliflower to your pan with the squash when the squash is starting to cook through.
• With seitan, it is usually in a vaccum sealed package with a bit of liquid. Drain the liquid in it's entirety. Using a food processor, ground up all of the seitan.
• Once the cauliflower is starting to cook through, add the seitan, peas and cooked quinoa and mix. Add the Tamari and let it cook for approximately 5-7 minutes. You can add more Tamari if you like but it really is to your taste. The more you add, the more salty it becomes. 
• Spread the mixture up to the sides because you want to make a well for the eggs.
• Crack open those eggs in your well. You want the eggs to be scrambled but over cooked a bit before you add to the entire mixture. Try and scramble them within the well you made. Once it's starting to be in scramble form, add a bit of the mixture at a time. You really want to taste bits of eggs in your stir fry. You will end up mixing it in the entire mixture. 
• We're done! Time to eat!