Quinoa & Seitan with Red Almond Sauce

IMG_5501 

I got pretty lucky with this recipe.  I made it with the scraps I had on hand, and it turned out so great I think it’s worthy of repeating.

Quinoa & Seitan with Red Almond Sauce

Ingredients:

Salad

  • 1/2 cup peas
  • 3-4 large carrots, chopped
  • 2 1/2 –3 cups cooked quinoa (or the yield from 1 – 1 1/4 cups dry quinoa)
  • 1 1/2 cups seitan, cubed

Sauce

  • 1 cup almonds, soaked (2 hours to overnight) and drained
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
  • 1/2 –1 cup water (until you reach desired consistency)

Directions:

Make seitan.  Also known as wheat meat.  If you’ve never tried making this yourself, it’s SOOO easy.  Promise you will love it. 

IMG_5489 

I made a very simple seitan to keep the flavor neutral and get things done quickly.  My log seitan recipe works perfectly, but I didn’t want to use additional flours so I just used 1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and a dash of nutritional yeast & paprika.  Mix until you have a blob that holds together.  Halve it and form into two cylindrical shapes and roll up in foil like tootsie rolls.  Bake for 20 minutes on 375.  Wait for it to cool to slice.*

IMG_5491 IMG_5494 

This seitan was chewy and neutral, but tasty enough to nibble on plain (try to avoid that).  Chop the wheat meat into cubes.

While the seitan is in the oven, start cooking the quinoa.  I use the rice cooker, so I don’t really have to worry about it while I prep the rest of the stuff. 

Add peas and chopped carrots to a large bowl.

IMG_5492 IMG_5495 

Add the seitan.

Then the quinoa.

IMG_5497 

Next make the sauce. 

IMG_5490 IMG_5493 

How much water you add, will determine the consistency of the sauce.

I added water until it was just barely able to blend, so it was pretty thick, but a thinner sauce is fine too.  I don’t actually know how much water I ended up using altogether.  Use your own good judgment. 

IMG_5498

Salad meet sauce.

IMG_5499

Oh yeahhhhhh!

IMG_5500 

Totally 100% amazing.

IMG_5503

And protein packed!  And vegan! 

IMG_5504

Kyle and I both had seconds and there was still a little bit left over.

IMG_5507 

I already want this meal again. 

IMG_5502 

*Don’t be scared off by seitan!  Try it!  You’ll be shocked by how simple it is to make and how hard it is to mess up.  The sauce in this recipe is forgiving, too, so if this is your first time working with vital wheat gluten, it’s a good place to start. 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments (28)

  1. Abby

    I have everything to make the seitan, but have yet attempted it (need to sub out the soy sauce.) Perhaps this weekend I’ll be brave and give it a shot! Your pictures look delicious.

    As for quinoa, I go through phases with it. I like it, but it seems to light at times and I default back to brown rice. Lately though I’ve been obsessed with farro. Throw it in the rice cooker and it’s done!

  2. Broke S

    Is there any way to make the seitan with out foil? I have all of the ingredients just no foil 🙂

  3. Caity @ Moi Contre La Vie

    Cannot WAIT to make this! Looks amazing.

  4. ethel

    if i become adventurous enough, i’ll make seitan. which btdubs, can you freeze it? do you have to freeze it after it’s cooked or before?

    if i’m not feeling adventurous, i think i may just throw in grilled chix. win. win. =)

  5. Elise (Post author)

    here’s the non-log (tin foil) version of the recipe…
    http://www.hungryhungryhippie.com/tutorial-how-to-make-seitan/

    (the foil method is easier, but both taste delish)

  6. Elise (Post author)

    you dont have to be adventurous!!! its sooo easy ate. promise. ive frozen it before (post cooking) – works fine.

  7. ethel

    okay, perhaps to christen my new place, i’ll have to bake some seitan…hahaha! yes?

  8. ethel

    p.s. what are my baking essential needs?

    9×11 pyrex pan
    baking sheet
    ramekins

    algo más?

  9. Elise (Post author)

    i just realized coconut aminos dont have soy! you could totally use that! do it this weekend. promise?

  10. Elise (Post author)

    those are the essentials.
    the only other things may be muffin pan/mini bread loaf and a smaller pyrex pan (for something like cornbread/brownies).

  11. Courtney

    Seitan is so good and soooo easy to make. Yours sounds really good. But, your sauce recipe is missing nutritional yeast! How can you eat a meal without it?! Haha 🙂

    Courtney

  12. Meg D

    Just successfully made my first cashew sauce! I guess now I should move on to almonds 🙂

  13. sarah

    Ooh…this looks delicious! It has so many of my favourite things in it!

    Wheat meat is such a gross name. Praise seitan 😉

  14. Bern

    Thanks Elise for sharing this recipe. I love the idea of the red almond sauce. I also like the idea of seitan but had to Google it to find out what it was. I am not vegan or vegetarian but am wanting to dabble in this type of eating more and more. Basically I try to follow the Dukan way of eating as much as possible. With the seitan, whilst it is high in protein, would it not also be high in carbs as well, given the amount of flour in it?

  15. Elise (Post author)

    hi bern! vital wheat gluten is a pretty fantastic thing because its actually got ZERO carbs. its only the gluten in wheat (only the protein portion), so its pretty awesome for vegans.
    you can see a photo of the package in this post: http://www.hungryhungryhippie.com/thoughts-on-the-elimination-phase/

  16. Caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy

    ooh that sauce sounds faaaabulous!! 🙂

  17. luv what you do

    I love seitan but never think to make it myself. This looks like a great dinner!

  18. Jessie

    This red sauce sounds amazing!! Have an awesome weekend xo

  19. Abby

    I just went to our health food store and they don’t have coconut aminos (and I’m not a huge fan of coconut, but whatever.) But I might still attempt it…

    I just made soy free tofu with chickpea flour though and it was good! Go me!

  20. Elise (Post author)

    soy free tofu?? whaaaa? explain! (although i really dont tolerate chickpea flour well at all so im not sure its worth me trying). still – go you!

  21. Abby

    Ha. Don’t get excited. I can’t take credit for it and of course it’s not “real” tofu, but after putting it in the fridge for a couple of hours, it really felt similar and was a nice change from beans!
    http://triumphofthelentilblog.wordpress.com/

  22. Pingback: 24 Kick-Ass Ways To Cook Homemade Seitan | GossipViews.com

  23. Pingback: 24 Kick-Ass Ways To Cook Homemade Seitan - zdouf!

  24. Pingback: Jeobox – 24 Kick-Ass Ways To Cook Homemade Seitan

  25. Pingback: 24 Kick-Ass Ways To Cook Homemade Seitan | sooziQ

  26. Luu

    Just made this for my carnivore hubby tonight. It was my first crack at homemade seitan and second time making quinoa. It was easy and a hit! Thanks!

  27. Alex

    Love the recipe, in the final stages of preparing it as I type this! However, 20 minutes isn’t nearly long enough to bake the seitan. I took it out just to check and it was still very dough-y and not cooked. After checking some other sources, about 90 mins at a slightly lower temperature seems to be the way to go.

  28. Pingback: Community Post: 24 Kick-Ass Ways To Cook Homemade Seitan – PandaNova

Comments are closed.