Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [68]
Premade seitan can be found in tubs or vacuum packages in the refrigerator section at your local health or natural foods store. You can find seitan in many different forms, such as precut fajita strips, cutlets, or loaves. The texture of seitan is close to chicken, so it’s especially good for replacing poultry in recipes. Dense, chewy, and often very tender, seitan can be a real crowd pleaser for dinner parties and celebrations that include meat eaters. Seitan is even tough enough to stand up to grilling and broiling, and it works nicely in stews and rich pasta sauces.
Making traditional seitan at home takes a little time, but it’s pretty simple. The kneading process can be a meditation to enjoy and can easily be shared with family and friends. To make traditional seitan at home, follow the recipe in Chapter 13.
If you want a shortcut for making your own seitan at home, try purchasing one of the mixes available at your health food store. Harvest Direct’s Seitan Quick Mix is a premade dry mix that shortens the cooking time and that is cheaper than premade seitan at the store. Make sure you follow the directions on the box exactly until you feel confident with the end result. After you’re comfortable, you can move on to making your own from scratch.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms make frequent appearances on vegan menus due to their rich tastes and dense and chewy textures. Dried and fresh mushrooms add depth and earthy flavor to savory meals while adding medicinal benefits to your menus. Because mushrooms contain glutamic acid, the natural version of monosodium glutamate (MSG), they really liven up the flavors in dishes.
Shiitake, portabella, button, chanterelle, morel, and many other varieties can easily be added to soups, stir-fry, pasta, bean and grain dishes, stews, gravies, and sauces. Fresh mushrooms are wonderful to add to different kinds of dishes, and keeping a few varieties of dried mushrooms expands the variety of last-minute dinner options you have at home. Simply soak dried mushrooms in water until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes, before cooking. Some top mycologists (mushroom scientists) recommend cooking button mushrooms to break down cancer-causing toxins in this variety.
To replace meat in a casserole or chili, chopped portabellas can be sautéed with a little olive oil, garlic, and salt and then added in the meat step. Sautéed mushrooms also can be pulverized in a food processor to mimic the texture of ground beef in tacos or burritos. Grill or broil large, marinated portabellas and serve them between burger buns for a meat-like treat. Most Italian-style pasta sauces work well with sliced, diced, or whole mushroom caps cooked into them.
Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
Textured vegetable protein, or TVP, is a cost-saving, soy-derived product. Made from defatted soy flour, TVP is cooked under high pressure and then dried into flakes, granules, or chunks. An excellent source of protein and fiber, TVP is an inexpensive way for large institutions to feed huge numbers of people when meat is too costly. TVP also is a decent source of potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
TVP can be bought in bulk or in smaller packages and is a great substitute for ground meat in recipes like chili, tacos, and meatloaf. TVP keeps well in a cool cupboard in a sealed container for at least a year. This feature makes it a good option when stocking your vegan cupboards.
TVP absorbs liquid from sauces and marinades really quickly, so it’s a nice fast-cooking protein source. Because TVP is such a great sponge, you may need to add extra liquid when converting traditional recipes. Add about 1 cup of TVP and an extra cup of liquid to your dish, and then combine well and cook according to the recipe. Dishes with TVP tend to freeze