Potato Salad Seitan Sandwich

My mind is on non-stop summer foods. Again. I have already made a huge batch of my Oma's Noodle Salad (veganized, duh), experimenting with black bean burgers and next up...I had to fulfill my need for some good old fashioned potato salad. On a sandwich. With seitan. Oh yeah!!

Also, a lot of the food that I have been making reminds me of when I grew up in Germany. And I find it interesting how different the flavor palate was between the US and where I grew up. When I first moved over to the US, even as a kid, I was repulsed at how sweet everything tasted. Campbells Tomato Soup...yuck! Way too sweet for me. Pasta salad...sweet, no good. I even have memories of bbqs where people brought pasta salad, which literally was sweet tasting italian dressing with some peppers chopped and added. This left me longing for what I grew up with, food with pow. Alot of things that I remember having growing up had a lot of sass, a lot of tang...which is still with me to this day. I much prefer things that way. And this potato salad hits my flavor spot. Zingy, creamy and mustardy with a splash of vinegar to give it that added tangyness that I so love and remember.

So here is my idea of a perfect summer sandwich, cool and tangy potato salad on a layer of seitan and lettuce...Mmmmm.

Here is what you will need:

Parsley & Fennel Seitan
1 c. vital wheat gluten
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. cold water
1/4 c. soy sauce (I've also subbed Braggs for this)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried parsley

Mustard Potato Salad
5-6 large potatos (2.5 - 3 lbs)
1/2 c. diced red onion
3/4 c. diced celery (about 2 - 3 stalks)
1/2 c. vegenaise
1/2 c. spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp. vinegar
salt/pepper to taste
parsley to garnish, optional


Begin with making the seitan, since it takes longer to make. The recipe is loosely based on the recipe out of Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance. I have made many variations based on it, and it always turns out fab. The addition of parsley and fennel seeds make it a nice compliment to the potato salad.

Begin by mixing all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl combine all of your wet ingredients. Using a large spoon or spatula, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined. After everything is incorporated, knead for about 5 minutes and let the dough set for a few minutes. Get a large pot ready, and fill it with cold, well salted water. Shape the dough into a long-ish log, cut into 3-4 evenly sized pieces. Place these in your pot and bring to a boil. Once a boil has been reached, set to simmer, covered with the lid propped open a bit for one hour. Turn off heat and let cool in the broth. The seitan should be much bigger and lighter in color than before. And it will most likely looks like brains. Gross, but tastes to good.


While the seitan cools, start making the potato salad. I left the skins on my potatoes because I like the texture, color AND it saves a whole lotta work. Cut your potatoes into bite sized cubes. Add to boiling water and cook until it is tender enough for your fork to push through, about 10 minutes total. You do not want your potatoes to be mush, but rather slightly undercooked just a teeny bit. Drain and let the potato cubes cool. Spreading them out on a baking sheet is a great way of cooling them down a bit faster. While the hot potatoes cool down, begin by making the dressing. Finely dice your onion and celery, set aside. Mix your vegenaise and mustard until smooth and well combined. In a large bowl, add your diced potatoes, onion and celery. Pour over your dressing, using a spatula, fold carefully until everything is evenly coated. Add your tbsp of vinegar, any salt/pepper to taste if needed, giving one last stir. Set in fridge to let all of the yummy flavors mingle.

Back to the seitan. Take out each chunk, and to the best of your ability, cut it into long strips and slices. Store in a container, making sure to cover it in some of the broth. Now comes an important decision: hot or cold. If you say cold, just layer lettuce, sliced seitan and potato salad on some of your favorite bread and you are ready to rock 'n roll. I made mine with the seitan warmed up. Using a good non-stick pan, you can easily toast the seitan without the use of any oil. Cook on medium heat until each side of the seitan is lightly browned, then layer up your sandwich. Either way, this is really good.

I know know that this is not a mind-blowing new idea, but hey, if it is not broke, why fix it? Why reinvent the wheel? Sometimes, things are classics for a reason and this tangy (not sweet) potato salad is the perfect example. Layered with lettuce and seitan on a sandwich just lets it reach new heights.

Now make sandwichs, go on a picnic, enjoy good foods and the day!

Baked Teriyaki Tofu on Fresh Ciabatta Rolls

I have been meaning to put up this recipe for over a week now, and I am finally making myself sit down and write it out because 1.) it's been a while and 2.) this is so gosh darn good, I can't wait to make it again!

I really am more of a summer person than a winter person, and I think my cravings for summery foods have officially started right on time in the middle of winter with many more months to go. I really wanted a fresh, tasty sandwich that left me satisfied but not in a "i ate so much, this is so good but now i am stuffed" kind of way. I knew I had wanted to try out some ciabatta rolls that would be perfect for a sandwich, and even better with some homemade baked tofu! All I can say is...super yum! I can't wait to be eating this outside in the summertime! Keep in mind, the ciabatta is pretty time consuming to make, seeing as it needs a sponge made the night before and then several additional rises...but it is so worth it!
What you will need for the ciabatta rolls:

sponge
1 tsp. yeast
1 c. warm water
1.5 c. flour

dough
1.5 tsp yeast
5 tbsp. soy milk
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. warm water
3 c. flour (plus up to an additional cup, if dough is too sticky/moist)
2 tsp. salt

The night before you want to make your ciabatta rolls, you need to make the sponge. And it only takes a few minutes to get together, and you just leave it alone until the next day (at least 12 hours). Warm you water, add the yeast and let sit for about 4 minutes. Add your flour, mix together to incorporate all of flour, then cover your bowl and let sit for at least 12 hours.

The next day, warm your soy milk, add the yeast and again, let sit for about 4 minutes. Add this to your sponge mixture, along with your water and oil. Mix together, I did mine using my kitchen aid stand mixer along with the dough hook. Add 2 c. of your flour and the salt, and mix for 2-3 minutes on a lower setting. Then add the 3rd c. of flour and mix on a medium setting for about 4-5 minutes. The dough should be soft, but not enough that it sticks to the sides of the bowl or your hands. During the last 2 minutes of mixing, I slowly added a 1/4 c. of flour at a time until my dough was a good consistancy and did not stick to my hands. All together, I added a little less than 1 c. flour to get the dough to where it needed to be.

Take a large bowl, grease it with a bit of oil, place the dough in the bowl and leave it covered in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough should be HUGE at this point, doubled if not tripled in size. *I usually preheat my oven to 200 degrees for a few minutes and then turn it off to have a warm place to proof the dough*

Have a very well floured surface ready, very gently take the dough, and seperate into two equal halves. Be careful not to handle the dough in a way that eliminates all the nice, bubbles you worked so hard for! Form the dough into two long rectangular pieces, about 10 - 11 inches long and 4 - 5 inches wide. Then cut each piece in half, then in half again, leaving you with 8 rolls. Cover your rolls again, and let rise for about 1.5 hours. Your dough will not be as huge as the last rise, and will get only a little bigger.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and get a non-stick baking pan, or line it with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Pick up each roll carefully, and place the bottom side up onto your sheet, so that the floured bottom is now facing upwards. I did 2 batches of 4 rolls each this way.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, and after the first 5 minutes gently brush or spray the tops of the rolls lightly with water. Repeat this 2 more times, then let bake for the remaining 10 - 15 minutes.

Awesome, right? And so delicious too!!! Still motivated to keep baking and cooking after the great day long ciabatta event? Then make this super delish baked tofu to go along with the rolls!


What you'll need for the baked tofu:
1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed
1 c. teriyaki sauce/marinade

Phew...ok, onto the good stuff. Out of sheer laziness at this point, I threw out my experiments with making marinades and used some teriyaki sauce I had at around. I know, I know...but I will get back to this very soon because it is so tasty and I want to try out some original flavors.

I got the tofu ready during one of the many rises of the ciabatta rolls. After pressing your tofu, cut it in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces. I wanted these specifically for the sandwich, so I opted for thicker, heartier slices of tofu, each being about a 1/4 inch thick. All together, I got 8 pieces. Layer these flat in a pan and pour the teriyaki sauce over the tofu and leave in the fridge for an hour or two.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, arrange them onto a non-stick baking pan and brush the top side with the sauce once more. For this, I used my amazingly awesome Silpat mats, which I am head over heels for. If you don't have one, get one...it will change your life, it is that good! Unless it's just me and I am a giant food nerd!

Bake for 30 minutes, flip the tofu slices, brush the sauce on the top sides again and bake for another 30 minutes! And you're done!!

For my sandwich construction, I simply added a bottom layer of greens, two slices of tomatoes, two or three slices of the baked tofu, and topped it all off with some veganaise!