Classic vegan meatloaf

It is a very gloomy day today and I thought it would be a perfect time for comfort food.

What can be better than a delicious veganized version of the classic meatloaf with vegan mashed potatoes.

Ingredients for the meatloaf:

Step 1

1 lb home made seitan, ground ( I use Vitamix)

1 small onion finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, smashed

¾ cup breadcrumbs

¼ cup nutritional yeast

2 tsp red paprika

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

Step 2

¼ cup hot water

¼ piece of a beef cube

1 TBSP molasses

1 tsp Worchester sauce

½ TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp soy sauce

¼ cup ketchup

Step3

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Slightly oil a 5 x 10 loaf pan.

Dissolve the beef cube in the hot water and let it cool down.

In a mixing bowl combine all of the Step 1 ingredients.

When the beef cube and water mixture is cool then mix it together with Step 2 ingredients. Put half of this mixture aside and mix the other half into the seitan mixture.

Now add the Step 3 ingredient, the ¼ cup gluten, to the mixture and mix gently but well. Taste it and if it needs a little more salt or black pepper then add more to it.

Put the mixture into the oiled loaf pan and brush the top with the ketchup mixture, which you put aside earlier.

Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes, brushing the top a few times with the ketchup mixture.

Enjoy,

Marianna

All ingredients what I use for cooking is always organic, the only exception is when a particular product is not available as organic, but if it is NON GMO and chemical free then I will buy it. If I cannot get a product this way then I’ll substitute it for organic and NON GMO products.

Seitan soup

And here is my seitan soup. Very delicious...it's medicine!

Enjoy,
Marianna

Seitan

Throughout the years I experimented with many seitan recipes and so far this is the one I liked the best, but I made some adjustments to it. I found this recipe on youtube on the VegTimes channel.

All ingredients what I use for cooking is always organic, the only exception is when a particular product is not available as organic, but if it is NON GMO and chemical free then I will buy it. If I cannot get a product this way then I’ll substitute it for organic and NON GMO products.

For the seitan:

Dry ingredients:

2 cups vital wheat gluten

½ cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 tsp garlic powder

Wet ingredients:

1 ½   cup cold water

¾  of one beef or chicken (Edward &Sons) Natural Bouillon Cubes, depending on what type of ‘meat’ you want to make. 

2 TBS Tamari soy sauce

For the broth:

14 cups of cold water

1 small whole onion with skin on

3-4 bay leaves

5-6 garlic gloves

2-3 whole carrots

½ celeryroot  

2-3 whole parsleyroot  

3-4 stems of fresh thyme 

2-3 stems of fresh rosemary

1 handful of fresh Italian parsley

1-2 tsp whole black peppercorn

3 cubes of beef or chicken bouillon

Directions:

In a big stock pot prepare the broth ahead. Put all ingredients, except the bouillon cubes, in the cold water.

Seitan:

Mix dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Measure out 1 and ½ cup water, put it in a small pot and warm it up on the stove. When it’s hot enough, mix in ¾ of your choice of one bouillon cube and dissolve it in the hot water. Let it cool down, it has to be cold when you mix it into the dry ingredients.

When it’s cold, measure out 1 and ¼ cup from this broth and put the 2 TBS of soy sauce in it.

Pour this liquid in with the dry ingredients and mix them well. Knead it like you need pastry dough until everything is well incorporated, about a few minutes.

You can use the leftover broth to adjust the texture of the dough. The more liquid you add, the softer the seitan will be.

Put the seitan dough on a cutting board and make a roll, about 13” long. Cut it into 4 equal sizes and put it into the cold cooking broth. When the broth is getting hot, put all of the bouillon cubes in it. (the small ¼ left over piece can go in it too).

If you had some leftover broth from making the seitan dough, then just pour it into the broth.

Bring it almost to boiling then turn the heat down and simmer it for about an hour. Do not boil it! Let the seitan cool down in the broth.

This recipe makes enough seitan for at least 2-3 meat dishes for 4 people.

After the seitan is cooked, let it cool down in the broth and when it is cold, remove it and use it right away or store it in you freezer.

The remaining broth is a delicious seitan soup. I like it with angel hair noodles.

Enjoy,
Marianna

Tips:

If your seitan boils up, don’t worry, as it happens with me too, the ‘sponginess’ can be fixed.

When you’ll use it in some of your meat dishes, just cook it as long as meat is cooked, give enough time and the texture will improve.

Also, you can use it as ‘ground meat’.