Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: 30 minutes

* Ingredients:

• seitan (from recipe in previous blog entry), sliced, fried
  
• 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
  
• sea salt, to taste
  
• ground black pepper, to taste
  
• olive oil, to taste
  
• vegan mozzarella cheese, sliced
  
• hoagie bun (or a French bun, in this case)

* Recipe:

1. In a skillet, sprinkle on some sea salt. Place on medium heat. When hot, add olive oil and black pepper. Place green pepper and onion in pan and cook until translucent.
2. While the onions and peppers are cooking, fry up the sliced seitan in another skillet. See the recipe in the previous entry to make the seitan. In this case, use the leftover seitan from last recipe.
3. When everything is done in both skillets, layer seitan, then onions and green peppers into a hoagie bun and add sliced mozzarella cheese.
4. Microwave to melt cheese (if you have a better way to melt, go for it!)

Vegan Gyro Sandwich with Tzatziki Sauce

The man on the far right in the picture (next to the leprechaun!) is my father during World War II. This picture was taken with a sailor, a airman, a WAC, and a Army man (my dad). It was for a Christmas photo sent to all the troops. The are holding their hands under a mistletoe toe.

I changed up how I made the seitan this time. Instead, I boiled it with vegetable broth and soy sauce for 2 hours and let it cool. After, I sliced it and fried it with olive oil and sea salt.




 



Vegan Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce

* Prep Time: 30 minutes
* Cook Time: several hours


* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 1/2 cup of chickpeas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• .5 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek seed
• 1 tbsp red wine
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour

• 10 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup soy sauce

* Ingredients (for Tzatziki sauce):

• 1/2 package vegan sour cream
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• ground pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh dill, minced
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 4 tbsp cucumber, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

* Ingredients (for gyro filling):

• Pita bread
• white onion, chopped
• lettuce, shredded
• tomato, sliced

* Recipe (for seitan):

1. Combine wheat gluten and nutritional yeast flakes in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a blender.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix well. Let the wheat gluten mixture rise for a few minutes.
4. While you wait, add the vegetable broth and soy sauce into a big pot. Mix. Do not turn on stove yet.
   
5. Form the wheat gluten mixture into a log. Cut this log into three equal pieces.
6. Put the seitan into the pot and now turn on the stove to medium heat. Place pot cover on, but allow some room for the steam.
7. Cook for 2 hours, rotating the seitan here and there.
8. To store, keep the seitan in the broth mixture and refrigerate.
   
9. NOTE: For this recipe, slice up the seitan and fry it on a skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the salt on the skillet, allow to heat, add olive oil, then seitan. Fry both sides.

* Recipe (for Tzatziki sauce):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for building sandwich):

1. Split the pita bread in half and open it.
2. Add lettuce, tomato, onion, fried seitan, and sauce.
   

Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing

I've been experimenting with different seitan recipes that I have created from scratch. This was the first one I started with. Beyond changing the ingredients, I've also been trying different forms of cooking it such as steaming then baking or cooking it in a pot.












Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing

* Prep Time: 30 minutes
* Cook Time: 1 day and/or several hours


* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
  
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek
• 1 tsp sage
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan Worcester sauce
  
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour

* Ingredients (for Russian dressing):

• 1/2 cup Vegannaise
• 1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  
• 1/4 tsp dry ground mustard seed
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
  
• 1/4 tsp paprika
  
• 1 tsp agave nectar
  
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped dill
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped chives
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  

* Ingredients (for sauerkraut):

• 1 cup sauerkraut, squeezed dry
• 1 tbsp vinegar
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• kosher salt (to taste)
• cracked pepper (to taste)

* Ingredients (for filling of sandwich):

• Olive oil, to taste
  
• kosher salt, to taste
  
• 1/3 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cups spinach

* Ingredients (for building sandwich):

• sliced rye bread
• vegan butter, to taste
  
• vegan monterrey jack cheese, sliced
• dill pickle, on the side

* Recipe (for seitan):

1. Combine wheat gluten and nutritional yeast flakes in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a blender.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix well. Let the wheat gluten mixture rise for a few minutes.
   
4. Form the wheat gluten mixture into a log. Wrap it in tin foil well.
5. Steam the tin foil wheat gluten log for 45-60 minutes.
6. Bake the now steamed wheat gluten log for 60 minutes at 350 degrees. After an hour, take out the seitan and check it.
7. If the seitan is still too mushy, leave it in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Different oven temperatures vary, so this recipe may take longer in one oven than another.

* Recipe (for Russian dressing):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for sauerkraut):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for filling of sandwich):

1. Heat skillet with salt. Once hot, add the olive oil, onion, and green pepper.
2. When onion starts to become translucent, add the spinach and mushrooms.
3. Once all ingredients are cooked, set aside.

* Recipe (for building sandwich):

1. Butter each side of the rye bread and toast each side on a skillet.
2. Take once piece of bread and put three slices of seitan as the first layer. Next, put the sauerkraut mixture and then the filling mixture. Lastly, put two slices of monterrey jack cheese. Place another slice of the rye bread on top.
3. Microwave the sandwich until the cheese melts.
4. Once melted, take the top slice off and add Russian dressing to taste. Place the top piece of bread back on the sandwich.
   

* Notes: You can make the seitan the night before or the same day. I chose to do it the night before to save time when I was building the sandwich. Also, I have a hard time trying to melt vegan cheese on a skillet. If any of you have a better idea as to how to melt it other than in a microwave, please let me know!