Seitan Piccata with Green Beans and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Reading the PPK forums angered me this morning. They were bashing the Veganomicon, saying the only thing worth making is the Seitan Piccata. And while it is probably my favorite thing in this book, it's definitely not the only thing worth making.

Andy and I tried out this recipe a few nights ago, and it was a great success. It was my first time working with seitan, which is incredibly hard to find as it turns out. Whole Foods stopped carrying it for a while, so the second they got it back, we stocked up and started hunting recipes. PPK advises you to make your own because of how expensive it is-- but a 12 oz package was only 3.95 at Whole Foods.



This recipe from the Veganomicon sounded the most approachable-- it's really just lightly floured and pan friend seitan over garlic mashed potatoes with steamed green beans, all covered with a white wine reduction sauce (not as complicated and fancy as you think). Like I've mentioned before, Andy and I really detest olives and capers-- so we just took that out all together. We couldn't find shallots, so we just used a regular white onion. It turned out just as tasty. I probably doubled the amount of wine, too, just because I really like the flavor. We used a dry wine-- because that's best, according to the wine guy at Whole Foods. It was an organic sauvignon blanc-- under 15 dollars, too. You don't need to go all out when you're cooking. Ignore the saying, Don't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. [[Although we have nothing against drinking a cheap wine]]

The best advice I can give you-- don't be afraid to put your own spin on recipes. It's better to change a recipe, then totally write it off because it has olives.

<3


[[Photo props to the hubby-- Andrew Warner]]