Vegan MOFO Day 8 - Is it wrong to love Seitan

When I first thought of becoming vegetarian, like many others, I worried about how I would get enough protien. I was not a fan of tofu and the though of eating only beans was not all that appealing to me or anyone who had to sit near me, if you know what I mean. As I began to lurk around the PPK I made a rather startling discovery...it was OK to love Satan oh I mean seitan. I had never heard of these lovely globs of protein goodness. After my discovery, my next trip to Whole Paycheck I picked up a package of chicken style. Anxiously I tore open the package and popped a piece into my watering mouth. Pffftttt. It was salty and a tad bit on the nasty side. Not one to easily give up on new food products, I made something with this package, it slips my mind what I made, but it was far from memorable or spectacular.

I kept reading about the wonders of seitan and remained curious. While testing for Vcon, I decided to brave making my own. The first batch I made turned out devinely. I made the Seitan Picatta and it was fantastic. Puffed up with my newfound skillz, I made a second batch only to get the infamous "brains". I was a bit discouraged, but then Lachesis renewed my faith with the Seitan O'Greatness. I set about to make seitan gyros with yummy results. I also made black bean and seitan taquitos. Oh the joys.

Not all of my experiences were good ones. I will never forget my flavorless rubbery nasty attempt at seitan pot roast in the slow cooker. Oh my that was so horrible. I did cut it into small chunks and used it for treats for Georgee. He seemed to like it. Below is a picture of my seitan of nastiness.




As time went by I was curious about other forms of this wonder protien. I was introduced to Julie Hasson's famous steamed seitan sausages. I have tried many versions of this method with great success; chorizo, cherry sage, white bean, etc.




Yet another new incarnation I have recently been introduced to is a loaf version of the steamed sausages. I can't wait to try more versions. Thank you to all of you seitan pioneers who have made my mouth so happy.

All hail seitan!