I've decided after more or less no deliberation but much procrastination to begin posting vegan food ideas on this blog. I've been a vegan for over four years at this point, excluding a brief period of living in Mexico, during which I reverted to vegetarianism to avoid starvation.
What this means for the unfamiliar is I do not eat--or, try my best to avoid eating--things that come animals. This includes milk, eggs, cheese and weird byproducts that litter our food, such as whey and casein. There are many, many reasons for this, none of which I will go into now.
Rather, it occurred to me that it would be fun to post some of the vegan survival tricks I've learned and recipes I've adapted on this blog. A lot of this will coincide with recommendations as to what to buy where, in particular at Trader Joe's and Whole, or Whore, Foods.
For my inaugural posting, I'll be sharing a scallop recipe that I adapted to be vegan. So, without further ado, where goes nothing...
Seitan Provencal
I was watching Barefoot Contessa recently with my sister-in-law and young nephew (don’t ask) when I came across a recipe that seemed perfectly suited to veganification. Ina Garten, host of the show and former White House nuclear energy budget and policy analyst, designed the recipe for use with scallops. For vegan purposes, we will be substituting seitan.
The recipe is easy, quick and delicious. In fact, it’s so easy and quick that Ina and her darling husband, former Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade for President Clinton, Jeffery Garten, had the opportunity to make love on the veranda between eating the meal and turning in for the night.
First, seitan. This is a wheat gluten product that vegans will be familiar with. If you’re not a vegan or vegetarian, seitan is a meat substitute that tastes nothing like tofu and looks a good deal like little chunks of meat.
Seitan availability is very much contingent upon location. When I lived in Western Massachusetts, I could get seitan at Whole Foods, Stop N Shop and the little natural foods market in town. In Omaha, where I now live, it’s Whole Foods or bust. The seitan in the blue box at Whole Foods is best for this recipe. I have no idea what it’s called, only that it’s blue.
So, the recipe itself (this will easily feed two people):
- 1 pound of seitan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour, for dredging
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) earth balance
- 1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 large) [I’ve found that scallions will also do if you can’t find shallots]
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1 lemon, cut in ½ [I’ve made this recipe without lemon and with lime substituted, was great both ways]
All you have to do with seitan is take it out of the package and let it drain a little. Always make sure you open seitan over the sink—it will leak. Any single piece of seitan that is bigger than a large scallop should be broken in half. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.
In a very large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the earth balance over high heat until sizzling and add the seitan in 1 layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the seitan to brown lightly on one side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes, total. Melt the rest of the earth balance in the pan with the seitan, then add the shallots, garlic, and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the seitan. Add the wine, cook for 1 minute, and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Though seitan is brown, it will turn a darker shade of brown in more or less the same time frame as the scallops. I’ve found that it takes maybe a minute or two longer for the seitan to cook that is indicated in the recipe.
To make the herb rice, add 1¾ cups of water for each cup of rice. I know that most packages recommend a 2-1 ration, but I find this works much better, and I lived in Japan and Mexico, so I have made rice a shit load of times.
Once the rice has finished cooking (you’ll know it’s done when it’s no longer soggy at the bottom of the pot), add about 1/8 a cup of fresh, minced parsley and 1/8 a cup of fresh, minced cilantro. Just toss it up a bit and you’re good to go. You can use less or more as per your preference. You can also trying adding basically any other herb that you desire, including marijuana.
Here’s the thing about the rice. If you’re going to Whole Foods for seitan, it’s easy to grab a bag of it there. However, as a rice nazi, I have to warn against this. Whole Foods rice is overpriced and of so-so quality. Trader Joe’s frankly has much better basmati bang for the buck, though you’d be best served by going to an Asian foods market, which will have the real shit.
And that, my friends, is that. All told, from getting everything out to eating the dish, it takes maybe 20 minutes (this includes cooking the rice—basmati is a fast cooker). It’s delicious, vegan and fun.
Below you’ll find a video of Emmy The Great. She’s a young London-based singer songwriter. I’ve been listening to her debut album, First Love, at least twice a day for the last week. It’s great cooking music.
Enjoy.
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