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Dec 6, 2011

seitan divan

Seitan Divan is a classic American casserole consisting of bread, meat, broccoli or asparagus and then topped with Mornay Sauce.

Mornay Sauce sounds exotic, but it is actually just a cheese sauce made using a simple Bachamel Sauce (a white sauce of thickened milk) with cheese melted into it. Nothing complicated but the name there.

Toast is typically used for the Divan, but I used English Muffins. I sauteed the seitan cutlets until they turned golden brown and layered the casserole: English Muffin, seitan thinly sliced, cooked broccoli florets and Mornay Sauce.

While you could simply make the Mornay Sauce with the Bechamel and melt 1/2 cup of vegan cheese in it to create the sauce, I also made the Mornay using Bechamel with no commercial (or difficult to make) cheese.

We all loved it! It really was easy to make and not at all a conventional casserole.

The pragmatic in me thought this was a great dish not just because it was good and easy to assemble, but because I was able to clean up after the initial cooking while the casserole baked for the required twenty minutes. Had the baking required a longer time I might have left the kitchen, and the mess, behind. Bonus.

Cost Breakdown

broccoli: $2
seitan: $1
English Muffin: $2
tahini, nutritional yeast, flour, lemon, milk: $1.50
Total to make 4 servings:
$6.50


5 comments:

  1. This looks great! One question: your post says you cleaned up while the casserole baked for 20 minutes, but the recipe says it should be for 30-35?

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  2. Thanks! Can't wait to try it.

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  3. Thanks, Tami! Wanna come over?

    Erin! You are so right. So here is what happened: I thought the casserole would be ready in 20. I did manage to clean up in that time... but the casserole wasn't quite done. So I made a mental note to up the heat...only I forgot to change it in my written notes. And truth be told- I 'm gettin' old and my memory isn't what it used to be :) Thanks to your keen eye, the recipe is fixed.
    Thank you!

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