Udon Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Seitan

I've made baked seitan before, which was really delicious. But have never tried "regular" seitan. I've never seen it for sale in grocery stores here (except for maybe this really spongey slightly scary looking thing at an Asian grocery store). So I finally made it myself! And it was most exciting. And easy to make. I think I still prefer the baked seitan but this simple boiled seitan is more versatile because it's not really flavoured. While I enjoyed it, I don't think it's something I'd make all the time because I'm just as happy with tofu. I used the seitan in a dish from Vegan with a Vengeance - cold udon noodles with peanut sauce and seitan. Can't go wrong with noodles, peanut sauce and vegetables!

Random Abby photo! I love how her back legs are just splayed open.

I think this recipe is infinitely adaptable. Use tofu or tempeh or some other meat alternative instead of seitan. Use spaghetti, fettucine, or rice noodles instead of udon noodles. I used some kamut udon noodles which were good and I loved that they were made with kamut but they're expensive so I won't get them often. And use whatever your favourite vegetables are or whatever you have in the fridge.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons
Honey-Mustard Marinated Tofu
Sunflower Rice Bowl
Lemon Miso Tofu & Eggplant

Udon Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Seitan
Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance

Next time I think I'd put less maple syrup in the peanut sauce. Isa thinks the temperature of the ingredients is really important (warm seitan, cold noodles & vegetables, room temperature sauce) but personally I'd just eat the whole thing either hot or cold. Either way it'll be good. I chopped the vegetables and put together the plate as suggested but next time I'll chop all the vegetables up rather than into strips, and just mix everything together in a pot (so this is how I've written the recipe). I much prefer a plate of food that's easy to eat! And mixed together so I can get a bite of everything rather than one long piece of red pepper or something.

For the peanut sauce:
2 tsp peanut oil
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground coriander
2/3 cup smooth all natural peanut butter
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp Asian chile sauce or hot sauce

For the seitan:
1 pound seitan (2 cups) sliced into thin (1/4 inch) strips (Recipe below)
2 tsp peanut oil
1 clove garlic
2 tsp soy sauce

To serve:
10 ounces udon noodles
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 long english cucumber, diced
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup green onions, chopped

Make the peanut sauce:
In a small saucepan, saute the garlic and ginger in peanut oil over low-medium heat. Add the water, soy sauce, and coriander and bring to a boil. Add the peanut butter and turn the heat to low. Whisk well until the peanut butter and oil are combined. Mix in the maple syrup, vinegar and chile sauce. Remove from heat. If you want to eat the noodles cold then let the sauce cool, otherwise you can warm the sauce back up later.

For the noodles:
Meanwhile, prepare your udon noodles according to the package directions. Drain them and if you want to eat this dish cold, rinse them with cold water. Let them rest in the colander and prepare the seitan.

Saute the seitan slices in the peanut oil for 5 minutes on each side or until the seitan is browned and yummy. Then saute with the garlic for a minute, sprinkle with the soy sauce, and saute again for 30 seconds or so.

To serve:
Mix the vegetables, noodles, sauce, sesame seeds and seitan together.

Simple Seitan
Adapted from Veganomicon

Makes 1 pound

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup cold vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated on a microplane grater

Broth
8 cups cold water plus 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, or 4 cups broth plus 4 cups water

Mix together the gluten flour and yeast in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the veggie broth, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic. Pour the wet into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until most of the moisture has been absorbed and the wet ingredients are partially clumped up with the dry ingredients. Use your hands to knead the mixture for about 3 minutes, until the dough is elastic. Divide with a knife into 3 equal pieces and then knead those pieces in your hand just to stretch them out a bit.

Prepare the broth
Fill a stockpot with the water and broth (or bouillon cubes), and add the wheat gluten pieces. Cover and bring to a boil but watch carefully; you don't want it to boil for very long or the outside of the seitan will be spongy. Try to catch it as soon as it boils and then lower the heat as low as it will go so that it's at a low simmer.

Partially cover the pot so that the steam can escape and let simmer for an hour, turning the seitan occasionally. Turn off the heat and take the lid off; let sit for 15 minutes.

Remove from the broth and place in a strainer until it is cool enough to handle. It is now ready to be sliced up and used. If you have extra seitan, store in the cooking liquid in a tightly covered container.

Mediterranean Pepper Salad

I'm still eating my daily salad for the salad challenge and will post a roundup of the past week on Sunday. But for now I will post about this other really yummy salad as I want to make sure I get in on Jacqueline and Lisa's No Croutons Required pepper challenge!

Since it's been so hot here I've been craving salads a lot so I've gone through many different salad recipes over the last while. This one is a definite favourite. I've made it 3 times so far (which is a lot for me) and plan to make it many many more times. I've always wanted to make Greek salad at home but never knew how (which sounds kind of ridiculous because really, how hard is it?) - and now I feel like I've found it. Though it doesn't have any oregano, and Greek salad doesn't seem to usually have peppers. I liked eating a big bowl of this with a savoury muffin for a meal. And this salad has also made me realize how much I prefer cubes of feta to crumbles. With cubes you get a nice bite of flavourful feta - versus crumbles where you can barely taste it unless you add a ton.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
French Barley Salad
Tabbouleh
Warm Vegetable Salad with Sesame-Maple Dressing
Santa Fe Pasta Salad

Mediterranean Pepper Salad
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 4 meal size servings.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup cold water
1 tsp salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 a red onion, cut into a 1/2-inch dice (use less if your onion is huge)
3 bell peppers, your choice of colors (I used one red, orange and yellow)
4 roma tomatoes (or 1 cup grape tomatoes)
1/2 long english cucumber
1/4-pound firm feta cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup pitted sliced kalamata olives
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Swish together the red wine vinegar, water, kosher salt and sugar in a small bowl until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the red onion and set it aside.

Meanwhile, time to practice your knife skills. Core and seed your bell peppers and chop them into 1/2-inch pieces. Chop the tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces. Chop the cucumber and feta into similarly-sized chunks. Put your peppers, cucumber, feta and olives in a large bowl.

By now, your onions will have lightly pickled, both sweetening and softening their blow. Drain them and add them to the other vegetables in the large bowl, but reserve the vinegar mixture. Pour a quarter cup of the vinegar mixture over the salad, then drizzle with olive oil. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper, or to taste. Toss evenly and serve at once, or let the flavors muddle together in the fridge for a few hours.

Bulghur Grape Salad

Another salad from a cookbook that's becoming one of my favourites, Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. The recipe for bulghur grape salad caught my eye a few times but bulghur is not something I just happen to have around the house so I couldn't make it without a trip to Galloways. I've never had bulghur before and I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but I want to try out all the different kinds of grains (amaranth, quinoa, millet, barley, etc) and incorporate them more into my diet. Some I'm more familiar with like barley and somewhat quinoa, but I've yet to make anything with millet and amaranth (though they're both waiting patiently in my cupboard!)

I was surprised at how delicious this salad was. I've never had a salad like this before, not only with bulghur but also combining grapes with other veggies. And oh those grapes were so good and crisp. I wish all grapes were crisp like that. I loved the surprising crunch and sweetness that they added to the salad - it definitely wouldn't have been the same without them. I thought the dressing smelled a bit strong at first with the cumin and coriander. Once I mixed everything together and served it with greens, I discovered that the dressing was mild and perfectly accentuated the ingredients in the salad. One reason, among many, to love this salad is how healthy it is: a mixture of fresh veggies, omega-3 filled walnuts, and too many health benefits to list whole grain bulghur.

Bulghur Grape Salad
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special

2 cups raw bulghur
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cucumber
1 red bell pepper
1 cup minced red onions
2 cups (8 ounces) walnut halves
2 cups (12 ounces) rinsed and stemmed seedless red grapes

Dressing
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

mixed greens

Place the bulghur in a heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over it, cover and set aside to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

While the bulghur soaks, cut the cucumber lengthwise into halves, then again in half lengthwise. Slice all 4 long strips crosswise into thin bite-sized pieces.* Stem, seed, and chop the bell pepper. Place the cucumbers, peppers, and minced red onions into a serving bowl and set aside.

Toast the walnuts in a single layer on an unoiled baking tray in a toaster oven at 350F for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Let them cool slightly and coarsely chop. Cut each grape into halves. Add the walnuts and grapes to the serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together lal of the dressing ingredients.

When the bulghur has softened, fluff it with a for and refrigerate it, uncovered, until cooled to at least room temperature. Add the cooled bulghur to the serving bowl, pour on the dressing, and toss well.

Serve with mixed greens, sharp-tasting sprouts or whatever you like.

*The recipe suggests you peel and seed the cucumber, but why waste a good cucumber?! Unless the skin is really tough.

Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad

I'm currently loving the interesting and different salads in Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special, and their Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad is no exception. I wasn't sure what the marinade would taste like and I was a bit wary of the fennel seeds, but wow I cannot believe how good it smelled as the vegetables were roasting with the marinade. What a wonderful combination of flavours!

The original recipe called for double the amount of vegetables (which is why there's 1/2 an onion and 1/2 a cucumber in my version), but I halved it because I wanted to add barley to make it a more substantial meal. Feel free to double the veggies and omit the barley if that's what you'd prefer. I also added the walnuts and sunflower seeds for some delicious nutrition. I ate the salad at room temperature the first time and it was good, but when I had it the next day after it had time to sit in the fridge and the flavours had mingled, it was so much more delicious. I really loved the combination of roasted veggies with raw cucumber and tomato, plus the marinade was so good.

Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special)

1/2 cup raw barley (pearl or pot)
2 cups water

Marinade
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil*
1 to 1/2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Vegetables
1 sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, trimmed and halved (quartered or cut into 8 if large)
1 tomato
1/2 a cucumber

1/2 cup grated feta
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Preheat the oven to 500F.

Place the barley and water in a saucepan, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook on low heat until most of the water has been absorbed and the barley is soft, about 40 minutes. When the barley is tender, drain it in a colander.

While the barley is cooking, combine the marinade ingredients by whirling briefly in a blender or food processor, or by whisking them in a bowl. Set aside. On a large baking pan with raised sides, spread out the sweet potato, red pepper, onions, and mushrooms and drizzle with about 1/2 of the marinade. Right on the baking tray, toss the vegetables with the marinade until evenly coated. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until tender and slightly browned.

While the vegetables roast, dice the tomatoes and cucumber.** Place them in a serving bowl. Add the drained barley. Drizzle with the remaining marinade and toss well. With a slotted spatula, transfer the roasted vegetables to the bowl and toss well.

Serve immediately, or at room temperature, or chilled. Top each portion with feta.

*I used freeze dried basil and I can't remember how much I put.
**The recipe suggests you peel and seed the cucumber, but I like eating the whole cucumber plus I don't want to throw good cucumber away! It's up to you what you want to do though.