Woot woot it’s the weekend!
It’s CHILLY here this morning! Even though I’m not ready to let summer go, it’s a welcome change from the high temps we’ve been having. It’s so nice to still have the windows open late morning, instead of having to shut everything up to block out the sun and heat!
Yesterday’s movement included 30 minutes of Iron Yoga and a 40 min power walk. Last night, Cory and I tried out the Wii Just Dance: Summer Party – as usual, it was an AWESOME cardio workout! Love the entire Just Dance series!
Dinner last night was awesome so I have to show you that first, then I’ll recap the rest afterward. The reason I enjoyed it so much is because I’m really trying to make meals that Cory and I can enjoy together rather than making “meat versions” for him and “vegetarian and/or seafood versions” for me. The meatless loaf was one example. He’s not really into a lot of the same veggies that I enjoy so it sometimes poses a ‘creative’ challenge when coming up with dinner ideas. He’s really reduced his meat consumption a LOT over the last 2 years and has been willing to try most of the veggies I do make, so I’m already proud of him for that.
He loves to eat at BBQ restaurants, and that’s one type of restaurant that I can RARELY come up with something to eat from the menu (meat, meat and more meat, with a side of deep fried something or other!). And I used to LOVE BBQ sandwiches with coleslaw. So I decided it was time to give SEITAN a try.
This is a product that I probably won’t use more than a few times a month, because it’s basically just concentrated wheat gluten. (So if you have a gluten intolerance, this isn’t for you!) I do not, but I still like to use alternative, non-glutinous grains more often when I have a choice.
Seitan wasn’t a product we worked with at all in school and I’m sure that’s because it’s not a “whole” food. It’s processed to get just the gluten to make a “meat substitute”. However in the interest of trying something new and finding a way to incorporate some things that Cory and I can eat together on a vegetarian level, I am willing to use it here and there.
I made some BBQ Seitan Sliders on mini sourdough buns, Ancho Lime Corn and an Agave Lime Apple Cabbage Slaw.
I only wish I’d taken more time to get a better picture. I was so excited to eat I pretty much just slapped it on my plate, took the photo, then dug in!
For the seitan, I had planned to use Annie’s Organic BBQ sauce (original flavor), but when I got home from the store and tasted the sauce it was very strongly flavored of vinegar. So some tweaking was in order. I sautéed a couple of minced shallots and a little garlic until they were golden brown, then poured in some of the BBQ sauce (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the small bottle). I added a squeeze of Dijon mustard as well as a squeeze of sriracha. Mmmm now the sauce was speaking to me!
I sliced up an 8 ounce package of seitan, put it in the pot with the sauce, stirred to coat it and then let it simmer with the lid on for a good hour. (I was using a pre-cooked version of seitan by WestSoy, so all it needed was warming.)
While that was cooking, I made the slaw. I adapted a recipe I found in the Inspired Eats iPhone app (great app for healthy cooking, BTW! It was written by one of my Bauman instructors.). I sliced up some red cabbage, a green apple, and 2 scallions (from my garden!!)
Then I mixed up some equal amounts of grapeseed Vegennaise with organic Greek yogurt, added a squeeze of lime juice, some salt, and a little agave nectar for the slaw dressing. Tossed it up and put it in the fridge to chill.
Next I made the corn – I used frozen because there wasn’t a single cob of fresh corn to be found at Sprouts yesterday. I thawed the corn first in boiling water, then drained it well and sautéed it, adding in minced garlic, ancho chili powder, lime zest and some lime juice.
Cory totally loved the meal and said that he wouldn’t have known it wasn’t meat if I hadn’t told him. I’m excited for leftovers today – there’s enough for one little slider, and I’m calling DIBS!!
The rest of the day’s eats probably weren’t as exciting.
Green juice in the morning (celery, 3/4 red apple, kale from our garden, cucumber):
Followed by some leftover reheated brown rice (“oatmeal style”) with almond milk and cinnamon:
Greens powder:
And an unpictured HUGE salad from Sweet Tomatoes salad bar. While there, I had part of a chocolate muffin topped with a little non-fat fro-yo.
Because I had the muffin at lunch, I didn’t need to have a full snack in the afternoon (that and I was looking forward to my BBQ dinner!) so I just had some green tea steeped with fresh mint:
That was my Friday!
So I’m curious: Do you ever cook with seitan? What’s your take on it?
– Shari B. =)
#1 by Joan on September 5, 2011 - 9:23 am
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I”ve never tried seitan. As I was reading your post I thought about my GF friend and wondered if you could substitute tempeh and sliced mushrooms for the seitan…is tempeh GF? I’ll have to look at my pkg. I love the idea of making sliders from non meat sources and smothering it with BBQ sauce…what’s sriracha? Again new ideas from you, love it!
And I love the scallions and kale from YOUR garden! woohoo! way to go girl!
Joan recently posted..Summer Zucchini Relish
#2 by Shari B. on September 6, 2011 - 11:41 am
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Hi Joan! Yes, she could use tempeh and mushrooms for sure – however, the texture won’t be the same. Tempeh is a lot more “solid” when sliced than the seitan would be, so I would probably crumble it instead and chop the mushrooms small. She would want to get the tempeh cooking in the BBQ sauce for quite a while (and maybe even marinate in it) to really let the flavor get in there.
Sriracha is a hot chili sauce that you sometimes see at Asian influenced restaurants. (Or Noodles & Co if you have one out there..!) A bottle will last forever and just a quick squeeze of it will add a lot of flavor to dishes. I like it in egg salad, dressings, tomato soups, tacos, etc.
#3 by Julie on September 4, 2011 - 7:57 am
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I haven’t tried it at all, but you know me I’m willing to try something at least once.
Iron yoga? What is that like?
Have a great weekend!
#4 by Shari B. on September 4, 2011 - 8:23 am
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HI Julie! Iron Yoga is a DVD and you hold small weights while you do the poses. When you start, you think “Gee I should be doing more than 3 or 5 lb dumbbells” but then you have to hold your arms up for almost every pose and you realize just how heavy a 3 lb db can actually feel!
It was one of my first yoga DVDs – you hold the poses for a bit, so I find it more relaxing than other yoga DVDs I’ve done.
#5 by Cindy on September 3, 2011 - 2:15 pm
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oh my gosh your sliders look appetizing.
I have to admit I have bought setian a couple of times and was too scared to try it.
I did not know at the time hat it was made out of gluten. I just heard of it from a blog and bought it.
however I am totally trying to be as little gluten as possible (having a lot of inflammation issues I was never aware of until I stopped eating it)
so that in itself would probably keep me from trying it again.
how nice is it to eat the same d
foods with Cory together.
I like meals like that too
yay for a cool morning
xo
Cindy recently posted..A confusing little cookie
#6 by Shari B. on September 4, 2011 - 8:25 am
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Hi Cindy! You bought it and then didn’t use it?? That doesn’t seem like you at all!
Yes, it’s ALL gluten.
It IS nice to eat the same foods with Cory sometimes
His concern was if he didn’t eat chicken, there’d be nothing else for him to eat for dinner because he doesn’t really like much else. So I’m trying to show him that there’s plenty he’ll like…. he just doesn’t know they’re out there yet!