Chik'n Seitan Bites [Vegan Mofo]

Vegan Month of Food marches on.

I need to pick up the pace for the last week of mofo! I've got more pics from last weekend, and I am happy to say that I was able to finally get more groceries to fill my empty fridge, haha. I hope to make some cool stuff for this last week of Vegan Month of Food!

This was Sunday's concoction: Chik'n Seitan bites. I used the same technique and similar ingredients as I did with These Chik'n style bites and with these seitan strips.

Roughly, my ingredients included: vital wheat gluten, a LOT of Montreal Steak Seasoning, Old Bay Seasoning, steak sauce, a little canola oil, and some water. I kneaded everything for several minutes, then tore off chunks and lined my toaster oven pan with foil and put the chunks down on the pan. I baked in the toaster oven for about 15-20 mins on 350F, flipped the chunks to the other side, and baked another 10 minutes or so.

They were really salty but also pretty tasty. I ate them with BBQ sauce.

Night Grillin'

Ah, night grilling! We decided it was time to grill, but got distracted and before we knew it, darkness had taken over. But that did not deter plans for eating grilled food!!!

I sliced a bunch of zucchini, thanks to a giant zucchini gifted to me by a co-worker. I used my mandoline to slice both crinkle-cut style and regular slices. I marinated in olive oil and my fave, Montreal Steak Seasoning:



Next, I used the mandoline again for thick-cut potatoes and onions to put into a foil packet along with olive oil, salt and whole peeled garlic cloves. Here's a picture of the packet:




Everything on the grill:



Just the 'burgs (we used Boca Big Burgers):


My bun awaiting the 'burg (yes, that is a zucchini slice under the onion):

Pan Fried Tofu

Best. Tofu. Ever.

I have officially become addicted to this style of tofu because it's super easy and gives the satisfaction of pan-fried fatty goodness.

Ingredients:
extra firm tofu (16oz)
salt
pepper
canola oil
optional: Montreal Steak Seasoning or garlic salt of some sort

How to do it:

1. Take a block of extra firm tofu (the water packed kind, not the hermetically sealed silken kind.) Cut the whole block in half, then into 1/4" thick slabs. Drain/press the tofu with paper towels to get more of the moisture out.

2. In a frying pan, put 2 T of canola oil in it and heat it to med-high.

3. Season the side of the tofu facing you with salt, pepper and optional seasoning. Lay that side down in the pan and season the new side with same ingredients. You should be able to fit about 3-4 slabs in the pan, depending on how big your pan is. Allow each side to fry until golden brown. (5 minutes on each side?)

4. Remove tofu, place on paper towels or tea towel to remove extra grease, re-salt if necessary, enjoy in a sandwich or as-is.

The salt is just right on these and makes the oil taste more like a buttery sauce than just canola oil. The Montreal Steak Seasoning, which I'm obsessed with, adds a lot of flavor, too.

Tomatoes, Mushrooms, and Onions

This was a really simple but satisfying dish. I sliced a bunch of mushrooms, I think I used baby bellas here. I cut wedges of onions and tomatoes, and threw it all in a pan until done to my liking. I also added a generous shake of my favorite seasoning which just found it's way back on my counter: