Vegan Seitan "Ribs"

Well, let me start out by mentioning that Vegan Drinks Philly was an immense success! At best estimate, it seems there were somewhere between 75 - 100 people that showed up for the event. It was a little cramped at Horizons, but I'm planning the next one as we speak and next time there will be more room. Stay tuned for more on that, I should have the final details for the next event by early this week. I am hoping that since so many people are interested, we might be able to raise some money for a local animal advocacy organization with the next event. ;)

Moving forward, I promised I would get you part two of the seitan "ribs" recipe:

Seitan "Ribs"

1 batch seitan "dough" (see below)
2 tbs tamari
1 batch BBQ sauce

Make the seitan "dough" as I did in the prior post for Lemon Pepper "Chicken" Breasts:

For the seitan dough:

1 cup vital wheat gluten
water

I like a really tender seitan, which is why I do not measure the water. I put the wheat gluten into a bowl and just cover it with water. You really can't add too much water, because it will all just drain out anyway. The trick is to massage the gluten gently with your finger tips until it has soaked up as much water as possible. I actually outlined the basic procedure in this video.

Once the gluten has soaked up as much water as possible, just scoop it all out and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Now that you have the raw seitan "dough", we are going to steam it. This is provide a nice "rib-like" texture (it was almost a bit too "rib-like" for me ;P ). Just put a steam basket into a big pot with about an inch of boiling water and put the seitan "dough" in there in two big rectangular-shaped masses. You can drizzle them with the tamari as I did for extra flavor. Cover and simmer on med-low. Give them a good 45 minutes to cook and check the water frequently as it will evaporate.



Once they are cooked, remove them and allow them to cool slightly. Slice the rectangular masses into 1/2" pieces to form "rib-like" shapes. Throw them into a big bowl the the BBQ sauce, then lay them out in a 9x13" pan. Save some sauce to top them with at the end if you wish.



Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Feel free to top them with any extra BBQ sauce you amy have saved and maybe a light drizzle of agave nectar.



All taste, NO HARM! ;)

I would also like to formally announce that I have decided to write a cookbook! It's an idea I have been conjuring up for while now and it's all still very preliminary. I am researching publishers and looking into self-publishing it too. Not sure which I will go after yet. I am also pretty booked solid right now between school, coordinating vegan drinks, working, and doing my internship with Vegetarian Resource Group, so I am thinking I won't get a real start on this until May.

In the meantime, I will continue to post recipes for all of you and it would be great if you could begin to test them out and leave comments on what you think about them. At some point, I will probably need a more exclusive group of testers, so keep that in mind ;) It's still a little way off, but it will be exciting to be able to share this experience with you, just as I do with all my other experiences as I travel down the path of veganism and fight animal exploitation along the way!

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