The chicken flavored seitan can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge for about 3 days. I haven't tried freezing the seitan so I'm not sure if the texture would hold up after being thawed out. Cooking the seitan ahead of time is a life saver if you know you'll have a killer busy day or week and still want a healthy fast meal option.
To make the chicken seitan, first you'll need to make some of the "Chicken" seasoning which I make in my Magic Bullet using the flat blade. The following recipe makes enough for you to have extra for several batches of the seitan or even some "chicken" flavoring for soup.
CHICKEN SEASONING
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes [ 3 cups ]
1 tsp. Onion Powder [2 Tbsp. ]
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder [1 Tbsp. ]
1 tsp. Ground Celery Seed [5 tsp.]
2 tsp. Sea Salt or slightly less if desired ( I like Pink Himalayan salt too) [4 Tbsp.]
2 1/2 tsp. Italian Herb Mix [5 Tbsp.]
Blend all ingredients into a fine powder using a blender. A Magic Bullet type blender with a flat blade works perfectly. Store in an airtight container/spice jar. The seasoning does not need to be refrigerated. It is a great seasoning for soups, or the "chicken" seitan recipe below. This recipe should fill a typical spice jar. To make a larger batch of the seasoning use the amounts in the brackets following the ingredients.
"CHICKEN" SEITAN (gluten based)
1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
2 1/2 Tbsp. Unbleached white or whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. "chicken" seasoning
1 cup water
Prepare a pot with several inches of water at the bottom that you can use a steamer basket with. I use a spaghetti sized pot that has a steamer basket which sits at the top of the pot. Make sure the water level won't bubble up into the steamer basket or your seitan won't cook properly. Use a bit of canola spray on the steamer basket.
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl (using a whisk works best)
- At this point, I start warming the water in the pot since the following steps are rather quick!
- Mix water into dry ingredients until well blended. Knead for just a minute or two.
- Shape gluten mixture by gently stretching into size that will fit into your steamer basket and place in the steamer basket.
- Get water to a boil, cover pot and reduce temperature but strong enough to maintain a good steamy simmer.
BBQ Sandwiches
Tear your seitan loaf into chunks and place in a food processor with the sharp chopping blade attachment. It doesn't take but a minute or so to get the seitan into a chopped meaty texture. Be watchful not to over-granulate the seitan.
Transfer the chopped seitan into a saute pan and pour your favorite BBQ sauce on it until it's just saturated. Heat and serve on toasty hamburger buns. Some of my favorite sides are a fresh vegan slaw, sweet potato fries, corn on the cob, salad or anything else you love with BBQ! Think healthy and most of all ENJOY!
I'll be adding photos at a later time, but wanted to share this easy tasty vegan meal with you right away!
TTFN - Yara
