Veganmofo 2009 – Food Network Friday

I’m interrupting my series of VeganMofo book reviews for Food Network Friday. Don’t worry, I’m far from running out of books to review, and I’ll be back on the review trail tomorrow.

If you’ve missed Food Network Fridays, they’re hosted by the wonderful Tami from Vegan Appetite and author of the forthcoming, much tested by me, American Vegan Kitchen. Her testers had so much fun with her book testing, that we’ve been taking it in turns to pick recipes to veganise. As I picked Kedgeree last time, I thought it’d be rude not to join in on other people’s choices.

I’ve never heard of Bobby Flay, but someone picked his Yucutan Chicken Skewers with Peanut-Red chile BBQ sauce and Red Cabbage Slaw, for this week’s challenge. I didn’t do anything too radical with it. It was certainly easier than my kedgeree and was easy and tasty. Here’s what I did:

(Serves 2)

2 seitan steaks (I used some I’d tested for Isa, but you could use any)

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 tbsp ancho chilli powder
1 large clove chopped garlic
salt and pepper

Lettuce leaves
Chilli peanut sauce
Red cabbage slaw
Mint and chopped peanuts for garnish

Thinly slice seitan steaks. Whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour over the steaks. Marinate for as long as you can – I had about 5 hours. Preheat griddle pan then remove seitan from marinade and griddle until cooked and charred, adding more marinade as you go so it stays juicy.

Place cooked seitan on lettuce leaves and drizzle with peanut chilli sauce, red cabbage slaw, mint and peanuts.

For the sauces and slaw, I followed the recipes exactly but simply swapped honey for agave nectar, and I used the cooking broth from the seitan instead of the broth and the soy sauce. It was as simple as that!

I loved the combination of the charred juicy seitan with the rich peanut chilli sauce and the crunchy zinginess of the slaw. Serving it on lettuce made a nice light healthy change from tortillas or bread. This was a great choice of recipe and something I’d have never tried without Food Network Friday. Thanks Tami!

(By the way, I have some of the basic BBQ sauce leftover in the freezer if anyone has any great ideas for how to use it!)

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