Seitan Steak with Mushroom Red Wine Sauce

Ryan and I had a great day off today, and it was mainly due to our meals.  Obviously I cook so much because I truly love it.  It's my meditation and it really grounds me.  But, I also cook so much because there aren't enough vegan restaurants!  That just breaks my heart because I love Chicago's dining scene.

But we went to one of our favorite quick serve spots today and I got inspired.  Native Foods Cafe has an insanely good vegan menu and I am determined to try literally every item this year.  If you live in a city that has this spot, I highly recommend you going ASAP!

Anyway, the point of the long ramble was that they use a lot of seitan and it struck me I have yet to work with it.  I already had vital wheat gluten in my plantry, so I had everything I needed.  Seitan is like tofu was 20 years ago.  Fairly new kid on the block, but is becoming increasingly popular with not just the vegans and the veggies, but for everyone.  It is a great meat replacer, versatile and extremely high in protein!


 Seitan Steak with Mushroom Red Wine Sauce

I didn't realize how freakin' easy it is to make seitan.  What a pleasant surprise!

Keep in mind it does double in size while boiling.  If you have left overs, no prob!  Slice it up and use as lunch meat!






Ingredients:

for the seitan:
1 c vital wheat gluten
1/2 c veggie broth
1/4 c soy sauce
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tbsp evoo
garlic powder
onion powder

to boil seitan:
2 c veggie broth
2 c water
1 garlic clove
1/4 c yellow onion sliced

for sauce:
1 tbsp vegan butter
1 garlic diced
2 scallion diced
sliced mushrooms (i used button)
2-3 tbsp soy sauce (have more to add in just in case)
1/4 c red wine (have more to add in just in case)

Directions:

Start with the broth, because you want to bring it to a boil by the time you have finished making the seitan.  Who wants to wait around??  Just add the broth ingredients to a large bowl and boil.

In a mixing bowl, add in all ingredients for the seitan.  Start mixing with fork, then use your hands.  Form into 2 steaks.  Once done, add to boiling broth, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Once you have about 10 minutes left before seitan is done, start prepping your sauce.  Once done, heat butter on medium and saute garlic and scallion for about 2 minutes.  Add in mushrooms and saute for another 2 minutes.  Add in soy sauce and red wine.

Your seitan should be done, remove from boiling broth and add to sauce pan.  Sear seitan steak in the sauce.  Add more soy sauce and red wine if needed (most likely needed).  Pan sear each side for about 3 minutes.  Place steak on pan and pour over the mushrooms and sauce.  To add more sauce, throw in a touch of water to get the reserve bits off the pan.  Scrape the pan and pour over steak.