Seitan is Not Evil

I'm not sure if yellow was the best color for plating this meal, but I can assure you it tasted better than it looked. Last week I tried out yet a few more new recipes from my ever faithful Veganomicon cookbook. This meal took me two-and-a-half hours to make. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, it is what it looks like: a simple sandwich and greens (Vietnamese seitan baguette and sesame baby bok choy to be a bit more specific). What made it so excruciatingly long, was that I made the seitan. Until recently I didn't know there was any other way of obtaining this meaty delight other than tearing open a plastic pouch from the grocery store, or ordering up a nice mock duck dish at my favorite Thai restaurant (King & I Thai, in case you were wondering). In fact, it was relatively simple to make. Just mix up some vital wheat gluten with a few other simple ingredients that I can't remember, then simmer it in a broth mixture for about an hour. It made quite a bit of seitan--probably about 3-4 times as much as you get in those wimpy little store packets--and only cost me a few bucks to make. Hooray! I sliced and pan-fried the finished seitan, and stuffed it into warm baguettes along with a bit of vegan mayo, and thinly sliced cucumber and red onion. I made a spicy ginger-garlic broth (sort of like an au jus) to dip the sandwiches in. Did I mention they were delicious? The bok choy on the side was yummy and easy, and a nice departure from our usual kale or Brussels sprouts. Here's a great photo of Chris enjoying the meal: