Category: fake meat

Tamarind Seitan Kabobs

Tamarind Seitan Kabobs

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Hello July!

I’ve been sitting on this tamarind glaze recipe for a while.  It needed something summery, something involving a grill, and something you can eat with your hands.

It needed seitan kabobs!

Who doesn’t love a kabob?  You can put anything you want on a kabob, and these are no exception.  I made my own seitan chunks (based off of Susan’s Seitan Ribz from FFVK) and added some freshly blanched broccoli, but any veggie that floats your boat, tofu, store-bought seitan… if it’s vegan and you can poke it with a stick, it’ll probably work.  Because this recipe?  It’s all about the sauce.

I LOVE this sauce.

I used to have to drive to a specialty Indian grocer to get tamarind concentrate (I prefer it to the pulp, if you have a choice), but I recently saw it sitting at Whole Foods near the grilling sauces.  The brand I use is called Tamicon, and it comes in a little yellow and red tub.  It keeps forever.  Buy some.

The base of this glaze is the tangy tamarind concentrate and sweet, sweet agave nectar (also available pretty much everywhere nowadays, near the honey).  I give it a little depth with tamari, and some spicey notes with cumin and ginger.  It’s awesome.  And if you have a whisk, or a fork for that matter, you can make it.

Tamarind Seitan Kabobs

Tamarind Seitan Kabobs
Makes 10 Kabobs (3 Pieces of Seitan Per Kabob)

1 Recipe Seitan, below
1 Recipe Tamarind Glaze, below
20 Broccoli Florets, or 20 Veggie Pieces, your choice
Wooden Skewers, with pointy ends

Seitan Cubes
1 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
2 tsp Bill’s Best Chik’Nish Seasoning, optional
3/4 Cup Water
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Tbs Soy Sauce

Vegetable Stock, for simmering

Tamarind Glaze
1 Tbs Tamarind Concentrate
1/4 Cup Agave Nectar
1 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Molasses
Black Pepper

Chopepd SeitanBegin by making the seitan.  In a medium bowl, combine the gluten with the dry ingredients and mix well.  Add the wet ingredients and knead for a few minutes. With a large knife, divide the seitan in half, and in half again. Continue to cut each piece in half until you have about 30 bite-sized chunks of seitan.

Place a large skillet (one that has sides) on the stove and fill with 1-2″ of vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, then add the seitan cubes. The stock should be about level with the seitan, the same amount of liquid you’d use for braising. GENTLY simmer (no boiling allowed!) for 8-10 minutes. When the seitan chunks are done, they should be larger, paler, and springier than when you started. Remove the seitan chunks with a slotted spoon. Set them aside until they’re cool enough to handle.

Save the braising broth to blanch any vegetables you’ll be using on your kabobs.

Simmered Seitan

Blanch any veggies in the leftover broth and drain and set aside.  Stir together your tamarind glaze and set aside.

Making Kabobs

Begin assembling your kabobs.  Be careful with smaller pieces of veggies (especially broccoli), as they’ll split and fall off the skewer if they’re not large enough.  I like to alternate veggie/seitan/veggie, but it’s your kabob, so make it the way you want!

Kabobs, ready to grillAt this point, you can refrigerate the assembled kabobs for later. Wrap them up and they’ll be ready for grilling whenever you (or your party guests!) are ready for them.  Everything can be made a day ahead, even the sauce, so all you’ll need is a few minutes to grill before serving.

Speaking of the grill, here are a few tips:

  • If you’re grilling outside, soak the skewers in water for a few hours before assembling the kabobs. This will prevent them from, um, catching on fire.
  •  Larger pieces of veggies will stay on the skewers more securely
  •  Like all sweet glazes, be careful or they’ll burn!  Add the glaze towards the end of grilling, not right away.
  • This will work just as well in a grill pan inside.
  • Once you’re ready to grill, unwrap the kabobs and throw them on. Everything is already cooked, so you don’t need to worry about anything other than 1) heating the kabob up 2) getting some nice grill marks and 3) caramelizing the sauce a little.  I failed at getting grill marks, but the kabobs were still pretty.

    Grill for a minute or two on each side, then brush the sauce over the kabobs. When the sauce starts to sizzle and bubble, your kabobs are done. Serve immediately with lots of napkins.

    Tamarind Seitan Kabobs

    Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing

    Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing

    I rarely post salads. As tasty as salads can be, I want to do my part in convincing the world at large that vegans don’t survive solely on lettuce. But this salad? Whoo boy. I love this salad.

    My husband calls salads like these “tossed sandwiches” and I’m inclined to agree with him. Our favorite salads aren’t just lettuce; they usually included our favorite veggies, a tasty homemade dressing, tofu or seitan, and sometimes fruit and/or nuts. We don’t make wimpy “house salads” with a few leaves of lettuce and some sliced tomatoes. Our salads are entire meals that look like they’ve exploded in the bowl.

    While I think this is a perfect salad, the fried seitan is really tasty and would go great as part of a non-salad meal (with mashed potatoes and gravy? Yes please!) or shoved in a sandwich. It’s crispy and delicious and meant to resemble country fried chicken.

    I’ve given directions for making the seitan from scratch (it’s not hard!), but any pre-made seitan should work. The main benefit of making it from scratch is being in control of 100% the flavoring and texture, but feel free to sub store-bought seitan if you want. It’s FANTASTIC with homemade seitan, but I bet it would still be pretty good with commercial stuff too.

    The dressing is almond-based, flavored with lemon, mustard, and spiced with Old Bay seasoning. The fried seitan also relies on Old Bay. It’s a wonderful commercial spice blend that you should seek out if you’ve never tried it. You can find it at any major grocery store, and it gives the perfect seasoning to the fried seitan. The ingredients are (copied from the bottle): Celery salt, Spices (Including mustard, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Bay Leaves, Cloves, Allspice, Ginger, Mace, Cardamom, Cinnamon), and Paprika. It’s so good.

    You can make the seitan ahead of time (up to a few days in advance) and then deep-fry it when you’re ready.

    Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing

    Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing
    Makes two entree salads

    1 Head Lettuce (Romain, Green, Butter, whatever)
    1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
    1 Granny Smith Apple, thinly sliced
    1 Recipe Creamy Almond Dijon Dressing (recipe below)
    2 Fried Seitan Cutlets (recipe below)

    Creamy Almond Dijon Dressing
    Makes enough for two salads

    1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds (blanched or raw)
    1/2 Cup Water
    2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
    1 1/2 tsp Tamari or Soy Sauce (low sodium)
    1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
    2 Tsp Dijon or Stoneground Mustard
    1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

    Blend all the ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth and no pieces of almonds remain. Refrigerate until needed.

    Chicken-Style Seitan
    Makes four cutlets

    1 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
    2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
    1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
    3/4 Cup Cold Water
    1 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce (low sodium)
    3 Tbs Soymilk
    1 Tbs Olive Oil

    Braising Broth
    2 Cups Water
    1 Vegetable Bullion Cube

    Mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the wet ingredients and stir well. Add wet to dry and knead until a dough is formed. Add more liquid if needed. The gluten will develop very quickly. Knead a few times on your counter, forming a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, forming four triangular wedges. Squish/Pound/Pull the wedges into 1/2″ thick cutlets. Take your time shaping, letting them rest if needed.

    Once they’re the right thickness, put a large, high-walled skillet on medium heat, adding the water and bullion cube to make a braising bath. Once it starts simmering, add cutlets and turn down the heat and cover. It’s important that you DO NOT boil the cutlets. Check several times to make sure the broth is just barely simmering. Boiling isn’t a disaster, but it will change the texture of the cutlets, making them spongier and rubbery.

    Simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. You can now refrigerate the cutlets in their broth for later, or fry immediately. I think cutlets that have been refrigerated over night before frying have a better texture, but you can use them right away.

    Fried Seitan
    For four cutlets

    4 Seitan Cutlets (recipe above)
    32 Oz. High Heat Oil (for frying: canola, peanut, etc)

    Seasoned Dry Mix
    3 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
    1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
    1 1/2 Cup All Purpose flour
    4 tsp Baking Powder

    Wet Mix
    1/3 Cup Seasoned Dry Mix
    3 Tbs Mustard (dijon or stoneground)
    1/4 Cup Water
    1/4 Cup Soymilk (or more water)

    Fried SeitanHeat the oil to 350º F in a 10″ skillet, cast-iron is best. Mix together all the dry ingredients except the baking powder. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Add baking powder to the remining dry ingredients and mix well.

    When oil is heated, dip a seitan cutlet in the wet mix coating well. The dredge the cutlet in the dry mix and gently slip it into the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Drain well on a paper towel and slice if desired.

    Assemble the Salad

    Toss lettuce with the salad dressing and plate. Add sliced apples and dried cranberries. Place 1 sliced fried seitan cutlet on top and drizzle with more dressing. Serve while the seitan is still warm.

    Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing