Easy Peasy Baked Seitan

For a lot of veggies out there, meat and dairy analogues are a godsend. When I first started on this veg journey I definitely missed old childhood favorites like chicken nuggets and corn dogs. Sad, but very true. Thankfully, there are a ton of veg friendly companies out there making really yummy mock-meat products. There is a downside to all of this though. Primal cravings aside, this stuff is often overly processed and ridiculously expensive.  I can't justify buying a tiny $5 plastic wrapped hunk of wheat meat when I can make over 2 pounds of the stuff for the same price. Better yet, I can season and shape it however I see fit.

The recipe below was adapted from Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap. I can't describe how much I love this cookbook. All of the recipes are super inexpensive and she provides genius cash saving tips. Definitely worth the price of purchase!

Easy Peasy Baked Seitan

Ingredients:

1/2 c cooked white beans
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tb. oil of your choice
1 1/4 c veg stock
2 c vital wheat gluten
1/2 c nutritional yeast
1/2 of a small onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350f. 
2. Dump everything except for the vital wheat gluten & nutritional yeast into a blender, and process 'til smooth.
3. In a large bowl, mix the vital wheat gluten & nutritional yeast together.
4. Stir wet ingredients into the dry mixture until a spongy dough forms.
5. Knead for 3-5 minutes and shape into an oval loaf.
6. Place the loaf on an oiled sheet of foil, making sure to cover the entire loaf. 
7. Stick the loaf in a baking pan and fill with an inch of water. 
8. Put it in the oven for about an hour and a half, until it firms up.

That's it. Super simple. Super cheap. Super yummy!

I like to slice the finished seitan and use it to fill tacos and sandwiches. It can also be rolled into wheat-balls for pasta, or into a log for "pepperoni". My partner and I usually only use half of the loaf per week, so I always make sure to freeze the remainder to use later.