Stuffed seitan

Thanks to the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen for the inspiration. I've been wanting to try this for months... it's about time I got to it. They used lots of nuts, oils and more nutritional yeast than I had on hand -- which is tasty, I'm sure! My version is low-fat but still exquisite. Trust me.




INGREDIENTS & HOW TO

SEITAN
1/4 c lentils + 1/4 c oats + 3/4 c water (or more to keep moist) overcooked
1 T nutritional yeast
1 t garlic
1/2 t thyme, onion
1 T soy sauce
1 1/2 c vital wheat gluten

STUFFING
1/4 c brown or wild rice, cooked (optional)
3/4 c cranberries
2 large celery stalks, sliced small
1/4 c peas
1 small/medium potato, diced small (I used red)
1/2 c water
1/4 c applesauce (optional but tasty)
1/2 t thyme, onion powder, sage
1 T soy sauce
1 T orange juice concentrate

BROTH
1/2 - 2/3 c water
1-2 T soy sauce
1-2 T orange juice concentrate
1 bullion cube
1 T basil, rosemary
1 t thyme
1 t olive oil (optional)


DON'T SKIP THIS STEP: Use foil. Keep each seitan loaf, whether you're making one large one or smaller separate ones or cooking seitan (wihtout stuffing.) Use the foil to keep it from sticking to your cooking dish. You can also use the foil to shape in a log or flat or whatever you prefer.

INSTRUCTIONS

Dice stuffing ingredients. Cook until most of the moisture has been absorbed and/or evaporated. This will smell delicious.. but try to hold out.

In a separate pot, cook lentils, oats and all remaining seitan ingredients EXCEPT GLUTEN. You will add this later. Don't have lentils? That's okay!.. you can probably use any legume you have on hand or even in a can. Lighter flavored legumes may work best. Just remember, canned foods are FULL of salt. So I wouldn't add salt or soy sauce if you do that. Honestly, I used lentils because they cook so quickly.

When lentil/oat mixture is almost cooked, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Continue cooking lentil/oats until they're OVERcooked and smooshy. Add small amounts of water as necessary.

Now, blend your lentil/oat mixture in blender until very smooth. Add a little water if you need to. Pour into bowl with gluten. Make sure your hands are clean and dig in. Knead, knead, knead. You may need to add a T of water at a time to blend mixture and keep it moist. How do you know how much water to add?.. just keep it looking wet.

Meanwhile, your stuffing mixture should be nearly cooked. Once most of the moisture is gone, let it cool so that you can handle it.

Put broth ingredients into another small pot. Heat until everything is melted.


Now comes the fun part:

Lay out your gluten mixture on wax paper or cutting board or just your clean counter. Roll until even and flat and thin.

Your stuffing should be cool enough to handle now, so put it on top of your gluten dough. Wrap the dough neatly around the stuffing. Pinch all holes closed.

Wrap your seitan roll in foil or use a dish that completely seals. Make sure to use enough foil to close it COMPLETELY. Pour broth over seitan and if using, keep it inside the foil. Wrap tightly. Place in cast iron skillet or pot with sides (to catch spills.)

Cook sealed in foil for 30 minutes. Turn the roll over (and re-wrap in foil if necessary). Add more water to keep moist. Close tightly and cook another 30 minutes.

Lower heat to 375 and remove foil. Add some water (or more baste) to your skillet and cook another 20 minutes on each side until brown and water is evaporated. **Keep the seitan sitting in at least a small amount of liquid the entire time for best flavor and moisture.

Slice.

Enjoy.

And enjoy again... and again... wow. You won't believe how lovely this meal is until you try it. Fantastic!


FOLLOW-UP: You can really use any stuffing ingredients and probably any spices that you want. Try this!

This was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Try it with whatever you have on hand. Frozen, fresh, anything. These would make great seitan-pockets, too! Make the recipe and separate into 4 pockets for stuffing. Wrap each one individually in foil, baste and cook the same way. Just remember when re-heating at work to make sure it's in some water and I would even put a cup of water in the microwave while it's heating. Keep it moist.