Thursday, January 10, 2008

Seitan From A Can?

I have seen a few others blog about canned seitan, so I just had to try it for myself. I ordered this one awhile back from Vegan Essentials. I must say it made me very nervous to try seitan from a can....

And my gut feeling was correct, I couldn't stand this stuff. I thought it was squishy and weird tasting, made my stomach slither a bit. But, John loved it (I sauteed it in a little coconut oil before serving). So thankfully, it wasn't wasted and he ate up what was on my plate. I wasn't totally lazy in making dinner... we also had the tamarind lentils from V-con (added a bunch of steamed kale towards the end and subbed lime juice for tamarind) and the coconut lime rice from ED&BV. Both were very tasty and made plenty of leftovers. I was expecting the coconut flavor to be stronger in the rice, still trying to decide if it's worth the extra calories (I used lite coconut milk). I also tossed in some toasted coconut with the rice.
And just to show you that I really haven't been all that lazy, here is our dinner from two nights ago, using homemade seitan (recipe from Yellow Rose Recipes); seitan stroganoff from VWAV! I love this stuff and I'm sure I've posted it before. But this time I updated it slightly by adding some vegan sour cream both to the sauce and to top it off (also fresh chives). I think I could eat this every night.... (and luckily there was a bunch leftover, so we will be having it and the lentils tonight!)
And it's hard to contain my excitement, I should be getting my new laptop from Dell tomorrow!! I have been waiting a looonggg time it seems to get a new laptop and I'm finished suffering through the slow machine that I've been using. Plus, it's green! Oh, and I got a recycling kit for my old, dead computer, so I'm interested to see how that works.
One more thing, I sewed the first stitch of my life the other day!! Made me so proud :-) You'll have to wait another month though to find out what, sorry to keep you in such suspense.
Whew, tomorrow is Friday.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I had a plate of your stroganoff right now. Wow.

Congrats on the new computer and the first stitch!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Well, I'm glad I didn't miss much in regards to seitan-in-a-can. I bought some at a Chinese market a few months back, but my mom made me throw it out (it was when there was that poisoned gluten-in-dog-food scare).

I'm excited to see your stitching!

Traci Anne said...

Hmmmm, yeah, I'm not too sure about seitan in a can. I want to see your stitching too, good job!

Amy said...

I have about 3 tins of seitan sitting in my cupboard and I've been too scared to open them (not that you've alleviated my fears at all with this post :P)

Mmmmm Tamarind Lentils, I LOVE those things!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

I almost bought seitan in a can at Sidecar in Seattle; so glad I didn't!

Tracy said...

I so know what you mean about the whole canned seitan thing. I've tried a few kinds before and they were something akin to muching wads of wet toilet paper. You almost need seitan to be even firmer than meat, you know? Not gooier. Ick. The homemade stuff looks super-fine, though!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

you're quite brave to even TRY seitan-in-a-can (which is basically "vegan SPAM," haha) - I'm glad to see that you made homemade seitan for your meals, instead :0)

congrats on the new computer, and on sewing your first stitch!! I love crocheting, so I know how exciting it is to start stitching :0)

Cakespy said...

Hm, it is kind of odd to have seitan in a can, but at least one of you liked it?!? Congratulations on sewing too, a skill I admire but sadly do not possess.

Tamara said...

I love those tamarind lentils. When I made them, we also had them with the coconut rice. I like that recipe, and don't mind that it's not super coconutty since I'm not a huge coconut fan. Adding some greens to that recipe is a great idea - I'm totally going to copy that! :-)

julie hasson said...

You're so brave. I've always been too scared to buy the canned stuff.

Everything looks delicious, especially the stroganoff.

Congrats on the new computer!

Ruby Red said...

Kale makes everything better! (I'm referring to your adding it to the tamarind lentils.)

I'm like you: I could see myself trying canned seitan too, even though I would be nervous about it! I'm curious about the taste, but not curious enough to buy it online and pay for the shipping. :)

I've never had seitan with noodles before! Seitan strongaff sounds amazing - you want to seal some of yours up in a can and mail it to me??? Have fun with your new laptop! (I have a Dell too!)

Ruby Red said...

***Oops, I meant "stroganoff." I'm a good speller, I promise.

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

yeah, seitan in a can sounds terrible.
i want some of that stroganoff right now. sounds and looks great!

MeloMeals said...

I have enough trouble eating the seitan I make from scratch, knowing what is in it.. I KNOW I couldn't stomach seitan from a can.. oy..

The rest of the food looks awesome. I'm all about those lentils and coconut rice.

Can't wait to see your sewing project.

Anke said...

The stroganoff sure looks great. But yeah, with these processed vegan foods you never know. I've wasted a fortune on vegan "cheeses" in Germany before accepting the fact that there is not one decent faux cheeze over here.

The H.I. said...

I must say I've enjoyed your blog very much this evening! I didn't even know canned seitan existed! Though I'm normally quite adventurous I think I'll take your advice and skip this one. What I'd love to try making is your seitan stroganoff. You mentioned you may have posted it before so could you tell me where I can find it? My wife makes a mean jerk seitan, which we'll be posting soon on our blog. Take a gander at it--we'd love to link up with you!
I'm from Ireland and the wife's from Houston so we've been meshing our cuisines--and I'm getting used to the spices! She even brought a bag of black eyed peas to Ireland for the New Year, which none of us had eaten before. They were surprisingly good. Your recipe sounds brilliant.
We're not a vegan blog but we do have some meat-free meals coming since she's a semi-veggie.
Thanks for sharing your recipes!

Judy said...

Wow, that stroganoff is alarmingly beef like. Looks good too.

bazu said...

I love all the new stuff in your blog- resolutions, recipes, ingredients... very fun!
I don't always love seitan in a can, but Daiku has zeroed in on the perfect way to make it- drench it in BBQ sauce (we use the mock duck) and then bake/grill/barbeque it at high temperatures until it's really crispy (takes care of the slipperiness). With some rice and greens, it's a perfect meal for me.

Emilie said...

oof. yeah. i tried seitan in a can. once. couldn't go back. stroganoff though, that's a different story. give me a wintery night and a hunk of seitan and stroganoff it is. yours looks particularly delicious!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

cool, a new green computer AND a way to recycle your old one! and I can't wait to see what you've been stitching... ^.^

(anything in a can = usually much weirder than non-canned. you were brave to try!)

vko said...

thanks for giving us the heads up for the canned seitan, have always meant to try it, but won't be rushing to anytime soon...

did you see the first Dell ads when they launched their colored laptops- one of the first ads was: The vegan did not choose green (the model is holding a pink laptop), well that ad tickled me pink. enjoy your new toy!

Ashasarala said...

Seitan in a can? That sounds disgusting. Your homemade seitan looks so much more appetizing!

Dell forever makes me think of that annoying college guy commercial: 'Dude, you're getting a Dell!' But then he became a drug addict and they had to toss 'im.