DIY Protein Alternatives!

Hers and hers aprons.

It is the last weekend of "freedom" - Karen starts her new school year on Monday.  That means that while it's definitely *not* the last week for experimental cooking, we'll have a few weeks of mostly tried-and-true recipes as we truly enter the swing of things.  So we set aside a little time for kitchen adventures today, particularly adventures that let us try things out from scratch.

Our style of vegetarian-ish eating involves a lot of recipes where you don't miss the meat because, well, there never was meat.  Loads of cuisines don't use it, or use very little.  However, we like an occasional "faux meat" - crumbles or strips - particularly for some recipes.  And some nights you're just running late, or tired, and you want something quick and easy.  No matter how inventive you are, sometimes you're just not inspired.

There's just one challenge: we are a pretty much soy-free household due to food sensitivities.  Loads (most) of the vegetarian "meat alternatives" include soy in their making.  There are a few brands that don't - Field Roast, Quorn, Beyond Meat (sausages & burgers), I am looking at you as some of the best-known.  But then we get into a new problem: processing and packaging.  Part of our plant-based endeavor is reducing our environmental footprint... so yes, it might still be better for the planet to have a Beyond Meat burger, instead of a beef patty, but if the burger still comes wrapped in plastic inside a big plastic tray... can we do better?

So I did a little hunting to see if I couldn't make some of our house faves from scratch.

I was told by a friend some time ago that making your own seitan, a wheat gluten-based protein alternative that we really like for sauces and stir-fry, was quite simple and provided some cost savings.  And, of course, it lets you control what goes into it.  (You can get a four-serving box for $3.50 near us.)  So we found a recipe and away we went! One of the things we love about seitan is that it's incredibly customizeable - basically, it takes on the flavors of the broth you cook it in.  So if you're an omnivore going more plant-based, and you're longing for chicken, flavor your broth with poultry seasoning.  If you miss beef, put some red wine in the stock!  Or, if you're like me and enjoy the flavor of mushrooms but *cannot* get over the texture, whip up some mushroom stock from concentrate (may I recommend Better than Bouillon's?).  If you do it right, you'll get a firm, fairly textured final product; meat-eaters will find the texture close to that of meat. You can crumble it, slice it, marinate it and cook it like meat - whatever you like.  I haven't tried to freeze it yet, but I am told you can store your seitan in some of the broth you've cooked it in and it will freeze fine!  We used some, tossed with tomato, basil, and olive oil, on top of spaghetti squash this week.  And yes, it's definitely cheaper to make your own: I got a package of wheat gluten for $8 that will definitely make more than 3 batches of seitan.

After simmering for an hour, it was... not amazing.  The texture was still a bit gummy, but my problem-solving skills suggested that it might be underdone.  After all, we had very earnestly made sure that we didn't bring the broth to a boil, concerned about overcooking.  We gave it about 20 more minutes on a slightly more intense simmer, and behold!  It was exactly what we expected.  Its fate this week is to feature in a seitan and bean burrito bowl.

Many vegetarian cookbooks require tofu, which is obviously a no-go given our sensitivities.  I've stared with frustration at some of those recipes, which seem delicious otherwise.  And *then* I discovered that one can make a chickpea-based tofu.  Well, chickpeas are a house favorite here, so let's give it a whirl!

Half the fun of making this was Karen's reaction to it.  As the recipe indicates, it's pretty simple: you make it very much like a polenta, stirring until it thickens and then letting it sit in a greased pan.  I whisked for the first half of the cooking time, and Karen took over for the second half.  She diligently poured it into the pan, and a few minutes later, she declared, "Hey!  It's actually getting solid!".  I was confused - of course it was, that was what it's supposed to do.  Her response?  "Yeah, but I didn't think it would!"  It's now sitting in the pan on the counter, with the tofu pulling away from the sides
of the glass dish.  She keeps returning to the dish to poke the now-solid tofu in amazement.

The tofu will get fried up in a stir-fry this week, to use up the last bits of last week's veggies and some of this week's as well.

It feels a bit bittersweet to start the normal routine: making lunch packs, preparing the meals ahead, etc., particularly since my routine will be different this fall.  But the fridge is suffering from our usual over-stuffed "weekend problem", with the addition of some tasty fake meat.