Day 61- Tasty Vegan Tacos

Not just tacos, of course- I also sliced some seitan and fried it up for dinner, spread with mustard and sauerkraut it was like the worlds laziest ever vegan rueben steak.

Seitan-

credit to Vegan Dad for method

• 1.5C Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1C +/- Cold water
• 2T each catsup, brown or Dijon mustard, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar
• 1/2T powdered ginger
• 1 tsp each garlic powder, cajun seasoning
• 1T nutritional yeast

In a (big-ish) mixing bowl whisk together all but wheat gluten until fully combined. add Vital Wheat Gluten 1/2 Cup at a time, mixing in totally before adding more. After the first half cup it might look curdled- that's fine! Don't freak out!

When all the gluten is added, flour (or use a little more gluten) your hands and kneed until the dough is very rubbery and kneading no longer causes mixing, but starts to stretch instead. Let the lump of dough rest for about 15 minutes so the gluten can relax.

Stretch the "dough" in one direction, making a long strip. Fold in half (so it's twice as thick and half as long) and repeat. Fold in half again and *smoosh* into a sort of log (small enough to fit in your steamer basket or stock pot). Using foil, seal the log into a tube shape. Make sure you don't have raw edges touching the "log" since they can cook into the meat and become almost impossible to remove.

Steam about 1.5 hours (guestimate), then bake (still wrapped) at 350f for about 20 minutes.

Can put in fridge and continue later from anywhere after wrapping the log.

Cool and slice- can be used in stir-fry, sammiches, breakfast skillets, whatever. This recipe tasted kinda like bologna to me, you spicing may vary.

Tacos

Tacos can be as easy or as hard to put together as you want. I used some of the salsa I picked up while cheating- That feels extra cheaty, BTW.

Peel and dice 1 med potato (could use white), 1/2 small onion. Toss into oiled wok with salt. Slice seitan into strips- I used about 1/2 inch total off the blob, probably got 4 slices- they don't need to be that thick. Cook together until the potatoes are cooked and the seitan starts to brown a little. then turn down the temp and add about 2T salsa (mix in well) and a dash or two of your go-to spice (I used garlic and cajun seasoning). Once it's all mixed together I hit the bottom of the pan with some lime juice for flavor (and to "deglaze" the pan). Serve with traditional or available taco toppers and tortillas or taco shells.

you can swap out the seitan for chicken or beef (or whatever) if cooking from raw, just make sure they go in the pan first, and sear them for extra yum. If using pre-cooked (or nuked), slice and toss in after the potatoes, where I add the seitan. Sometimes I like to make "tacos" with just the seasoned potatoes. not healthy, but tastes sooo good. Also yummy with beans or sweet potatoes.

RE: Seitan-

If you are gluten intolerant (or feeding someone who is) this is *not* the recipe for you. Should be obvious, but I just wanna make sure it's out there, in case anyone had a temporary brain disconnect (like me most of the time).

Also, if you want to try it without having to make it, you can buy it premade at most health food stores or co-ops under brand White Wave (I think). It's about $5 for a small box, in the refrigerated area. Here's a random link with image and review.