eclaire (what’s in a) name?

the month of may has been a blur of activity around here, and of course, the first thing to go during this busy time has been finding and testing new recipes. instead, i’ve been sticking to the old standbys because i can easily remember the ingredients off the top of my head while i’m walking through the grocery store, sans list. (since most of you don’t go shopping with me, let me fill you in on my shopping list habit: i rarely go into ANY store without a list in hand!!)  so you can imagine how busy this month has been if i’ve been heading into the store with nary a list or reusable bag in hand.

that’s not to say that we haven’t been eating well – because we have! but most of our meals are either already here on the website, or purchased from restaurants or the new leaf salad and hot bar. so for this post, i’m brushing the dust off of an old but still amazing dish. we found this way back in the beginning of 2007, and if my memory serves me correctly, i think this dish was the first one in which we attempted to cook seitan. oh, and in case you haven’t read my other seitan post, seitan is a wheat protein that tastes and looks pretty meaty.

what i love the most about this dish is that the flavors in it are very layered. first, you saute the seitan in some oil, orange juice, and maple syrup, giving it a sweet and, yes, glazed flavor and texture. then, you dump out the seitan into a serving bowl, wipe the pan clean, and quickly saute the bell peppers and edamame. the next step is the first picture – you move the peppers and edamame to the sides of the pan to keep them warm, and place garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in the middle, letting them get fragrant before mixing in. this keeps the bell pepper crunchy because cooking time is minimized, but still extremely flavorful. after that, you throw the seitan back in the pan with some cashews and pour an orange juice mixture over the top, yielding a sweet/sour tang layer on top of the sweet seitan and spicy veggies. as you eat this dish, you’ll notice the different flavors in every component – quite complex and delish on the taste buds! and full of protein! so basically, you can’t go wrong with this oldie but goodie recipe. and while you’re making this, i promise to try out some new recipes to share with you.

glazed seitan

adapted from vegetarian times, january 2007
yields 4 servings

• seitan
• 1T sesame oil
• 12-oz. pkg. seitan, broken up into pieces
• 3T maple syrup
• 3T orange juice (fresh squeezed or packaged)
• 1T soy sauce

• stir fry
• 1T and 1t sesame oil
• 1 red bell pepper, roughly diced
• 1c frozen shelled edamame
• 1T minced ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2t red pepper flakes
• 3/4c cashews
• 6T orange juice (fresh squeezed or packaged)
• 1T arrowroot powder or cornstarch
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1. for seitan: heat sesame oil in skillet over med-high heat
2. add seitan and stir fry 4 minutes
3. whisk syrup, juice and soy sauce, and pour over seitan, allowing to simmer for 3 minutes
4. place all seitan into serving bowl and wipe pan clean with a towel
5. for stir fry:  heat 1T sesame oil in skillet over med-high heat, then add bell pepper and edamame, constantly moving them for 2 minutes
6. push vegetables to the perimeter of the skillet (see the first picture), and pour remaining 1t sesame oil in center
7. add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes to the middle, and stir-fry 1 minute
8. next, stir in 2T water, seitan, and cashews, then cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes, or until pepper is crisp but tender
9. combine orange juice and arrowroot powder or cornstarch until there are no lumps
10. stir oj mixture into vegetables in pan mixture, bringing to a simmer before promptly removing from heat
11. serve over a starch (i love this dish over brown rice, but soba noodles would probably also be amazing), or serve all alone
12. eat slowly to fully enjoy all the flavors!