Seitan and Polenta Skillet With Fresh Greens

I am always on the lookout for fast vegan recipes that use ingredients I haven't yet tried much. I bought a premade tube of polenta at Trader Joe's that I needed to try, although the family seemed dubious about its looks. Polenta is cooked corn meal which is moist yet firm, and sliceable. It doesn't need to be refrigerated until you slice into the plastic wrapping around it.

I get Laptop Lunch newsletters monthly, which have recipes, and this month's featured a SEITAN POLENTA SKILLET WITH FRESH GREENS which looked tasty, from Nava Atlas' Vegan Express cookbook. I went to the coop looking for the baby bok choy and fresh spinach, plus the gluten powder I needed to make some seitan. They no longer carried gluten powder, having replaced it with gluten-free baking mixes galore. I did mention to them that not everyone is gluten intolerant, but grudgingly spent over three dollars for an eight ounce tub of premade seitan, because I really wanted to try this recipe. Apparently the other coop in my area has the gluten powder, and I will get a few pounds there next time I'm in town. I already had some green onions and dried tomatoes, which would be the other essential ingredients to have on hand.

Savory Roast Seitan and Gravy

SAVORY ROAST SEITAN is an easy dish to prepare. I usually just call it roast gluten, but I didn't want to scare anyone off from trying it. 

Gluten is the protein part of the wheat berry — the part left over if you wash away all the starch from whole wheat flour, after mixing it with water and kneading it a while into a dough ball. You can do that if you want, but it's a lot easier to just buy some vital wheat gluten powder, available at natural food stores. 

 

I checked with Arrowhead Mills, one of the main producers of gluten in this country, and they are still making their own and not importing it from China like the pet food companies do, so there is no need to worry about melamine contamination if you buy their brand. Ask if they are the source of the bulk gluten powder if that's what your store carries. 

 

Seitan is a seasoned cooked substance made from gluten, which is available in the freezer or refrigerated sections of your natural food store. The plain gluten dough ball is usually cooked in a seasoned broth for an hour or so to make it the traditional way, but I find it easier to do it my own way at home, which is probably cheaper too.

Ingredients (double them for Thanksgiving roast)

1 package or 2 cups — gluten powder

2 Tblsp. — nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 tsp — garlic powder

1/4 tsp — ginger powder

Sprinkle — cumin seeds or powder

Dash — red pepper

1/8 cup — tamari

1 1/2 cups — water, or more as needed

1/8 cup — tamari 

1 1/2 cup — water

Several — peeled cloves garlic

Oil for pan

 

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once you've brought home a package of the gluten powder, which should be about two cups, dump it in a mixing bowl and add the following seasonings, stirring them all together: two tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (better pick some of those up when you get the gluten, along with the tamari soy sauce you'll need), half a teaspoon of garlic powder, a quarter teaspoon of ginger powder, a sprinkle of cumin seeds, and a dash of red pepper. You can use a little more of any of those if you'd like.

Add an eighth cup of tamari soy sauce to one-and-a-half cups of water and pour that into the dry mixture. Stir it together with a fork, cleaning the sides of the bowl with the forming gluten ball. If there is any leftover dry mix, then just add a little more water. It will form a springy, spongy ball.