seitan picatta

Overview

Time: 30 minutes
Dishes: large skillet, 2 pie plates (or shallow dishes), measuring cup, lemon juicer

Hello, hello Dear Readers!

I've blogged about Picatta a few times before, so if you haven't given it a try, yet, it really seems I would like you to. This meatless, vegetarian and vegan version is the fastest I can come up with, while keeping the recipe as delicious. 

This is seitan in a lemon-broth sauce and is really delicious. I've mostly seen it with capers, so toss in a few teaspoons if you are a caper fan, but I like to keep it simple. No capers here. 

We always have mashed potatoes with this and garlic greens, and all told, dinner was on the table in 45 minutes. The Picatta itself took 30 minutes, so I started the potatoes and even the brussels sporuts, first. 

I used my large skillet for the greens so had to settle with a medium skillet for the seitan and, thus, had to brown the seitan in three batches. Even with this additional timing for the extra batch, the dish was ready in 30 minutes.

Because some breading falls off while cooking, you might need to wipe the pan with a towel between batches to remove the burnt breading. 

We had a diner come a little late to the table, to his woe; all the "seconds" were gone. It really is that good. 

Enjoy!

Speedy Cooking Tips:

• If making mashed potatoes, start those on the highest/strongest burner first. Then move to a lower burner when cooking the seitan (to allow the stronger heat for cooking the seitan).
• Use a cake pan for the breading and coating.
• Prepare the breading, coating and cut the seitan. 
• When breading the seitan, add the slices right from the coating and shimmy the pan back and forth to coat the pieces. This will avoid having to flip them.
• When cooking the seitan don't worry about getting everything evenly browned; it'll all go away with the sauce.
• Prepare the broth and lemon juice while the seitan browns.

 

Picatta

Makes 4 servings 

easy

Serve with mashed potatoes and greens. 

1. Seitan: Cut a loaf of Easy Simple Seitan into 1/4-inch thick slices.

14-ounces Easy Simple Seitan (1 loaf)

2. Breading: Combine the ingredients in a cake pan and stir well:

1 cup dried regular breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

3. Coating: Combine the ingredients in a second cake pan and stir:

6 tablespoons unsweetened nondairy milk

3 tablespoons cornstarch

4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Dredge a few slices of Seitan in the Coating and then in the Breading. Add to the skillet. Repeat with as many slices as will fit. Cook until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes, and remove to a plate. Repeat until all the seitan is cooked. You might need to wipe the pan between batches to avoid burnt breading.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

5. Sauce: Add to the empty skillet the broth and lemon juice. Cook until reduced by about a third, over medium heat, about 5 minutes.

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

6. Serve: Add the Seitan to the Sauce and cook for 2 minutes to thicken the Sauce. Serve.  

 

 

© 2020 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

pin it!

creamy lemon pasta with cripsy lentils

Overview

Time: 30 minutes
Dishes: medium pot, large pasta, air-fryer

Heads Up! lemon and lentils

Hello, hello Dear Readers!

How about a little sunshine as the sun begins to recede to winter? Lemon is a fall/winter crop, so this is actually a perfect meatless, vegetarian and vegan dish for this time of year. This is lemony but nothing overwhelming, and it is creamy and delicious. The crispy lentils give it a nice contrast. Together they provide protein, iron and Vitamin C. All good things!

Make sure to zest your lemon before you juice it to save headache later. To zest, I just used a peeler and made sure to only get the yellow part of the fruit and not the white pith, which is bitter. Then I used a knife to mince the peels. 

The juice is added to the cooked and drained pasta so it absorbs the flavor perfectly. 

If you want (I would have but I didn't have any at the time) add 8 ounces of baby spinach to the pasta water a minute before you drain it, for some leafy green action. 

I air-fried the lentils, which proving to be very effective at making it crispy, but take care not to overdo it. I accidentally left them in the fryer for 15 minutes and they became a bit too crispy. Eight to thirteen minutes should suffice, but keep an eye on them and use your judgement.

All in all, an easy dish to prepare that was fast and tasty. 

Enjoy!

Speedy Cooking Tips:

• Start the water for the pasta first. The water needs to boil and the pasta will take about 10 minutes to cook. 
• Drain the lentils while the air-fryer preheats. 
• Cut the onion first, start cooking it. Then peel and mince the zest. Garlic can come last.
• Use a lid for all pots.
• Always zest before you juice the citrus.

 

Creamy Lemon Pasta with Crispy Lentils

Makes 4 servings 

easy

www.ZsusVeganPantry.com

Preheat air-fryer to 400-F

1. Pasta: Cook the pasta in a medium pot of salted boiling water, until   al dente. Drain the pasta, return to the pot and add the lemon juice. Stir well; the pasta will absorb the juice:

12 ounces fettuccine or spaghetti

2 tablespoons lemon juice (zest lemon first) **

2. Lentils: Rinse and drain the lentils. Add to the basket of an air-fryer and season with salt. Cook until crisp but not dried out, about 8 to 12 minutes:

1 (15-ounce) can green or brown lentils

3. Onions: Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and lemon zest. Cover with a lid and cook until the onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Stir as needed.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 lemon zested**

4. Sauce: add the flour to the Onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the milk and stir until there are no lumps. Add the rest of the milk and the cheese, if using, and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. needed.

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups plain, unsweetened nondairy milk

2 slices or 1/4 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)

5. Serve: Add the Sauce to the Pasta and season with black pepper. Toss well and divide into bowls. Top with Lentils and serve.  

** 1 lemon. Use a peeler to peel zest very thin, not peeling any white pith. Then mince the zest strips. Then juice the lemon.

© 2020 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

Pin it!

Overview

Time: 45 minutes
Dishes: air fryer or oven and baking sheet, large bowl, small bowl, whisk

Hello, hello Dear Readers!

I find it completely ironic and hilarious that a salad should take a lot longer to prepare or cook than a main dish, but those are the facts. I had to classify this meatless, vegetarian and vegan recipe as moderate because of the baking time (which CAN be reduced dramatically the smaller you cut the potatoes, but the lazy in me decided on 3/4-inch dice) and the ingredients list, which, as we all know, can hit the roof for salads.

If you've been to my blog before, you are familiar with my love of shawarma (see Herbivore copycat HERE and seitan shawirma HERE), so turning the Middle Eastern wrap into a salad was not a reach for me! Here is my take on the sandwich-turned-salad, which turned out pretty delicious and all things considered, pretty fast. 

It's the baking time that makes this take long, so, if you want, chop the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes and drop the baking/air-frying to 10 minutes from 20 minutes, before adding the protein. That would make this salad take about 35 minutes to bake, but, all in all, consider the extra baking time not as more time in the kitchen but more time to be with your family and fur-babies, since that part is hands-off.    

This is a complete dish, with protein, vegetables and starch, so devour as is.

Enjoy! 

Speedy Cooking Tips:

• Peel and chop the potatoes BEFORE grabbing your ingredients.
• Soak the potatoes and preheat oven/air-fryer while grabbing ingredients.
• Start baking as soon as possible.

 

Shawarma Salad

Makes 4 servings 

moderate 

Preheat air-fryer to 400-F or oven to 475-F

1. Potatoes: Peel and chop the potatoes into 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubes. Soak in cool water for 5 minutes. Drain well.   Note: The smaller you cut the potatoes, the shorter the baking time.

4 medium to large potatoes

       

2. Roasting: Toss the ingredients in a large bowl and add to the baking sheet or fryer basket. Bake/air-fry for 20 minutes (for 3/4-inch dice).  

Drained Potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

3. Protein: Add to the pan or basket of Roasting and continue to bake for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are crisp and tender.

4 seitan cutlets (chopped), 2 cups re-hydrated Soy Curlz, 2 cups chickpeas or 1 package Gardein Beefless Tips

1 teaspoon paprika

4 pumps of oil spray

2 pita breads, cut into 1/2-inch strips, added to basket or pan during last 10 minutes of baking (optional)

4. Dressing: Mix with a whisk in a small bowl:

1/3 cup hummus

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoon water

salt and paprika, to taste

1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

5. Salad: Serve Salad ingredients with the Protein/Potatoes and Dressing.

6 cups shredded lettuce

1 large tomato, chopped

1 avocado, 1 carrot and/or 1/2 cucumber, thin sliced

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup tortilla chips (if not using pita bread)

© 2020 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

seitan shawirma

Before we get into this recipe, which happens to be an authentic Middle Eastern shawirma sandwich (based on Holy Land's recipe - which, unfortunately, uses animals), that features seitan marinated in spiced yogurt sauce before air-frying to perfection,

I want to formally announce the release my newest cookbook, Aquafaba [Amazon, B&N, Book Depository]. This book is all about making and utilizing bean water to make formerly egg-based creations, such as macarons, burgers, whipped topping, ice creams and dozens of other sweet and savory items.

A few noteworthy sites to visit:

To find the table of contents of Aquafaba, go HERE.
To find the blog tour for Aquafaba, go HERE.

Back to the wrap:

As I said above, this is a marinated seitan sandwich, but, of course, with my twist on it; I added air-fried potatoes, and, of course, the requisite pickles. You can jazz this up even more by adding lettuce, tomatoes and hot sauce.

To begin with, make the yogurt-based marinade and let your seitan sit for however long you like. Minimum is 30 minutes, but overnight is just fine. You can even use chickpeas in this recipe or just in the marinade - it makes terrific roasted chickpeas, which you can just eat alone or toss into wraps (like this one) or on salads.

When you are ready, just drain the seitan and air-fry it. If you don't have an air-fryer then bake it or saute it, but the air-fryer puts a nice crust on the seitan without drying it out.

Although I grouped the seitan pictures together (marinating the seitan and cooking it), because it makes sense visually, when it comes time to actually cook it (and you are using an air-fryer; if baking you can bake them at the same time), fry the potatoes first because they take longer. Just keep them warm.

The marinade acts as double duty. Once it is drained, mix it with the rest of the yogurt and season with salt and pepper. No waste and no extra sauce assembly required.

I love shawarma prepared in any way and this shawirma recipe is unique because of the marinade. It is a bit easier than other shawarma recipes and comes with a built in sauce. Not to mention delicious.

Seitan Shawirma 
Serves 4

Marinade:
1/4 cup unsweetened plain nondairy yogurt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce
1/2 small onion, grated
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups chopped seitan

Sauce:
6 tablespoons unsweetened plain nondairy yogurt
Black pepper

Other:
3 medium red or yellow potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
Fresh lemon juice or oil spray
4 large tortilla wraps
Pickles

1. Marinade: Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, tahini, worcestershire, onion, garlic, garam masala and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk well to combine. Add the seitan and mix. Set aside to marinade at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. 
2. Bake the potatoes while the seitan is marinating. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and spray with oil or drizzle with a teaspoon of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to an air-fryer and bake for 15 minutes at 360-degrees and then another 10 minutes at 390-degrees. Stir or shake the basket every 10 minutes. Alternatively, bake the potatoes on a pre-heated 400-degree oven until tender and golden, about 40 minutes. 
3. Drain the seitan well, reserving the marinade. Transfer to the air-fryer basket and bake at 390-degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir after every 5 minutes. Alternatively, bake in a preheated 375-degree F oven for 30 minutes. 
4. Sauce: Combine the reserved marinade with the 6 tablespoons yogurt and season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Warm the tortillas.
5. Add potatoes to the tortilla, along with the seitan and a few slices of pickles. Roll up and serve with the sauce.


© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

PIN IT!

seared cauliflower and chickpeas piccata

It seems I have made piccata for the blog more than a few times but it's probably all in my head as I can only find it HERE. My memory lags probably because I make it for home at least every few months. The family loves Seitan Piccata and because it is a very easy dish to throw together (given you have seitan handy), I'm all for it.

The usual mashed potatoes are the accompaniment and maybe a vegetable sneaks in there, such as steamed green beans, but this time around I wanted to make it without seitan.

The flavor affinities of cauliflower + chickpeas + lemon + sweet potatoes + greens is a winner and I instantly wanted to transform these ingredients into one cohesive dish. The sauce for the piccata has only 9 ingredients, plus the cauliflower and chickpeas.

While I served this bowl-style, with the addition of sweet potatoes and greens, you can by all means ignore my suggestion and go with the standard mashed potatoes and green beans.

Roasting the sweet potatoes is the first order of business as preheating the oven and cooking the tubers will take the longest.

The next longest step is cooking the collard greens, so get them on the stove and you can essentially forget about them.

In this recipe I treated the cauliflower a little differently. I simply sauteed and seared the pieces until they were tender and golden.  Cover the cauliflower as it cooks over low heat and it will not only sear but cook all the way through. Definitely a fantastic way to treat this vegetable! A little seasoning of salt and black pepper and I could eat them all day long. I might, if given the chance.

Finally, the sauce is made. This step goes pretty fast after the chickpeas are done sauteing so it might be a good idea to have everything ready to go once the chickpeas are golden brown.

This is the best dish to eat all these seasonal produce in: cauliflower, sweet potatoes, collard greens and lemon.

There it is! Gluten free (if using rice flour), nutritious, pretty and delicious.

Seared Cauliflower and Chickpea Piccata
Prep and cook in 40 minutes
Serves 4 

Potatoes:
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch half-moons
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Collards:
8 ounces collard greens, tough stems removed and cut into ribbons
1/4 small onion, chopped

Cauliflower:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small head cauliflower, cut into 1/2 -inch slices (as best as you can)

Sauce:
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, cut into thin slices
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour or rice flour
1/4 cup dry white wine or vermouth**
1/2 cup vegetable broth
 2 tablespoon capers
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced parsley

1. Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 425-degrees F. Combine the potatoes and oil on a baking sheet and season with salt and black pepper. Bake the potatoes until golden and tender, about 20 to 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes midway through cooking. Lightly mash with a potato masher.
2. Collards: Combine the collards and onion in a medium pot. Add enough water to cover the collards well. Cooking the collards in plenty of water will reduce their bitterness. Season with salt and black pepper and cook until tender over medium heat, about 20 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
3.  Cauliflower: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cauliflower slices (and the pieces that fell away when slicing), cover the skillet with a lid, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until golden, about 9 minutes. Flip the pieces and cook the other side until golden and the cauliflower is  tender, another 9 minutes. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.
4. Sauce: Heat the now empty skillet over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and cook until they are dry, about 3 minutes. Add the oil and cook until the chickpeas are golden, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook until the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix well. Add the wine and cook until the wine almost evaporates completely. Add the broth and capers and cook until the broth is reduced by half and thickens, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved cauliflower, lemon juice and parsley. Cook until the cauliflower is warmed through. Season with salt and black pepper.
5. Assembly: Serve the mashed sweet potatoes with the collards and piccata. Spoon a little of the sauce onto each serving. 



** Wine substitute: Soak 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes in 1 cup of hot vegetable broth. Set aside to rehydrate and infuse the broth with the flavor for at least 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze the tomatoes of their liquid. 

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

avgolemono soup + "cook the pantry" winner

The Greek soup, Avgolemono, has been on my mind for the past year or so, ever since I saw it being prepared on a cooking show. This classic soup is often made with rice and chicken, but it is always flavored with lemon and thickened with egg yolks, giving it its characteristic pale yellow color.

I redid this soup, not so much with authenticity in mind, unlike most other recipes I create, where that is a central theme of mine: authenticity but with better, kinder, vegan ingredients. Instead, this time I just wanted to play with the fall produce that is currently available. Lemon, kale and dill.

I simply love kale and using it to replace the chicken is such a great switch, especially since kale and lemon are a natural flavor-match. Add some dill, which is a flavor-match with lemon, and you have a bright, sunny summer-y dish in the middle of autumn.

In addition to flavor profiles, I also wanted this recipe to be very quick and very easy. This recipe needs only 9 ingredients, including water, salt and black pepper (not pictured below.)

It is a very basic soup recipe that starts with great quality vegetable broth. Most store-bought vegetable broths these days are golden in color and taste great, so if that is what you have on hand, this is a very speedy soup dish. If your broth is not dark golden color, omit the 2 cups of water from the soup and increase the broth to 5 cups. Easy fix.

While your rice is cooking in the broth....

Heat your pot of water for the kale. Cooking the kale separately in a good quantity of water will help draw out most of its bitterness. This same "bitter" remedy is perfect for collard greens as well, just make sure to cook collards for around 15 to 20 minutes, instead of 5 minutes, as collards are much tougher.

Don't forget to save your cooking water, cool it and water your plants with it.

After the rice is cooked, add the cooked kale, fresh dill and lemon juice mixed with the starch. Instead of eggs (which actually bring no flavor to the soup at all, since the lemon is such a dominant flavor), this version is thickened with arrowroot (or cornstarch). It leaves the soup silky and smooth, as does its egg counterpart. Add lemon juice to taste as some people find it very assertive.

That's it! It's done! It is a delicious, tangy first course or light supper when you don't want something too heavy to weigh you down overnight. You can also use short grain brown rice instead of the Arborio, but cook it longer, around 20 minutes.

Now for the anticipated winner of Cook the Pantry (Amazon, B&N)  by Robin Robertson...

The winner is Janel Gradowski. Congratulations! Please contact me so I can get the book to you!

Avgolemono Soup with Kale and Rice
Prep and cook in 30 minutes
Serves 4 

4 ounces kale, tough stems removed and cut into ribbons
3 cups good quality vegetable broth
2 cups water
1/2 cups arborio rice
1 tablespoon minced dill
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
Sea salt and black pepper

1. Heat a large pot half-full with water to boiling. Add the kale and cook until the kale is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Combine the broth, 2 cups fresh water and rice in a medium pot. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the rice is almost tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the kale and dill. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer until hot.
3. Combine the lemon juice (smaller amount) with the starch and mix well. Add to the simmering soup and heat the soup just until it thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, black pepper and more lemon juice.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.