Appetite for Reduction_ 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes - Isa Chandra Moskowitz [102]
Cover and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender and the eggplant is mostly broken down. The lentils should be soft as well, but depending on your lentils it may take 10 or so more minutes.
Mix in the olives and tomato sauce and cook for 5 more minutes to get the flavors melded.
Remove the bay leaves, taste for salt, and serve.
Surefire Seitan
MAKES 1 POUND; SERVES 4 • ACTIVE TIME: 10 MINUTES • TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR
PER SERVING
(¼ RECIPE)
Calories: 150
Calories from fat: 30
Total fat: 3 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Trans fat: 0 g
Total carb: 8 g
Fiber: <1 g
Sugars: <1 g
Protein: 23 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 220 mg
Vitamin A: 0%
Vitamin C: 4%
Calcium: 4%
Iron: 10%
Seitan can get pretty expensive, even in small quantities. Simmering your own seitan from vital wheat gluten flour is not only more cost effective, but it’s more delicious effective, too! And it really isn’t very hard. If you’ve ever mixed up any dough, seitan-making isn’t any different. It’s just a small matter of a little kneading and then plop-ping into a simmering broth. So make the initial investment of a bag of the flour, and then seitan will be yours for weeks to come!
BROTH:
8 cups vegetable broth (the powdered or bouillon kind
works great)
¼ cup soy sauce
SEITAN:
1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
3 tablespoons chickpea flour
½ cup cold vegetable broth
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated on a Microplane grater
Begin the broth: Bring the 8 cups of vegetable broth and ¼ cup of soy sauce to a boil in a covered 4-quart stockpot. Meanwhile, prepare the seitan.
In a large bowl, mix together the gluten and chickpea flour. Make a well in the center and add the ½ cup of cold broth, the ¼ cup of soy sauce, and the lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. Mix with a wooden spoon until most of the moisture has been absorbed and has partially clumped up with the dry ingredients. Use your hands to knead for about 3 minutes, until it’s an elastic dough. Divide into four equal pieces with a knife and then knead those individual pieces in your hand just to stretch them out a bit. Let rest until the broth is ready.
Once the broth has boiled, lower the heat to a simmer. It should be bubbling, but not very rapidly. I use moderate low heat. Drop in the gluten pieces and partially cover the pot so that a little steam can escape. Simmer for about 45 minutes, then turn off the heat and let sit for 15 more minutes.
Remove the seitan from the broth and place it in a strainer until it is cool enough to handle.
The Elements of a Bowl
ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN VEGETARIAN FOR ANY AMOUNT OF time, or anyone who has ever stepped foot into a ’90s health food restaurant, for that matter, will be familiar with “The Bowl”—an upside-down hard hat filled with some combination of veggies, grains, and beans plus a sauce or two. It might not sound like much but when done up at home, bowls can be lifesavers—delicious, delicious lifesavers. Take them to lunch, have the ingredients waiting at home in the fridge to throw together, or just make all the components on the spot. As a rule, bowls don’t have to be complicated.
Typically my bowls consist of a sauce, a grain, a bean, and a green. Sometimes tempeh or tofu is the bean, or sometimes when you’re super hungry, you can throw caution to the wind and have beans and tofu. The real beauty of the bowl is that you can eat the same thing for a month, a year, the rest of your life! And yet never have to eat the same thing again. Call it Isa’s Paradox.
The grain: Quinoa is a favorite because it cooks so fast. Brown basmati rice is a close second when I’ve got a little more time. Not really a grain, but buckwheat soba is an occasional treat. Occasional only, because it’s a bit more pricy than my old standbys. I love whole