Joyful Vegan Family

Vegan Goodness:

Today we ate:

• Breakfast: Blueberry smoothies and toast for Dad and LP and peanut butter toast for Mom
• Lunch: A special treat for LP – we went out for burritos and smoothies.  This was his reward for three days of peaceful, awesome napping.
• Dinner: Polenta with Puttanesca Sauce.

Money Matters:

Today we spent the following:

• $31.06 at Whole Foods for groceries
• $18.90 for our burrito treat

Monday Munchies: Recipe of the Week

So many people ask what we have for Thanksgiving.  We enjoy tons and tons of fantastic side dishes, but for the last two years our main dish has been this fantastic setian roast.  We got the recipe from The Ellen Show and it is totally worth the effort!  Seitan has a great chewy texture, but what I love about this recipe in particular is that it doesn’t try to “pretend” to be meat.  Instead it has waaayyy more flavor than any turkey meat ever has!  This would be a great addition to any holiday meal, or even to a weekend dinner.  And then there are tons of roast left for sandwiches during the week!

Delicious Seitan Roast

Ingredients

4 Cups vital wheat gluten
1 Cup bread crumbs
1 Cup nutritional yeast
3 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 large onion small dice and caramelized
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
½ Cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Cups strong No Chicken, chicken stock (we used this recipe, minus the soymilk powder)
1 full sheet of cheesecloth
Butcher’s twine
Blackend seasoning mix
Earth Balance butter

Directions:

• Caramelize the onions over medium heat until they are golden brown. Add the onions to the dry ingredients and mix.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until a loose batter forms. Shape the batter into a loaf.
• Unroll about 24″ of cheesecloth on to a clean dry surface. Unfold the cloth completely and then fold it in half to form a two-ply piece of cloth.
• Place the loaf in the middle of cloth and roll it up, leaving enough space to tie off at both ends.
• Now tie two more pieces of twine over the center of the roast.
• Place the roast into a large pot of boiling water and simmer for at least two hours.
• Carefully remove the cheesecloth and place the roast on a small sheet tray and rub the roast with Earth Balance butter and sprinkle with blackening spices. Bake roast at 350 for 20+ minutes or until golden brown. Allow roast to rest a few minutes before slicing.