potpie-style seitan over smashed new potatoes

I don't know about you, but my least favorite part of making pot pie is the pastry crust. Just the thought of having to make the crust, waiting for it and rolling it out is enough of  a deterrent for me. 

For your culinary enjoyment, without the hassle of the crust, is Potpie-Style Seitan over Smashed New Potatoes. 

This dish takes new potatoes, with cook in about 15 minutes, smashed with a bit of vegan butter and tops it with sauteed seitan and gravy speckled with carrots, corn and peas. While your potatoes are cooking (no need to peel new potatoes), you saute cubed seitan, which you reserve for later. In the same pan, you cook the onions and make your gravy. Then you add a cup of mixed veggies of corn, peas and carrots to the gravy. That is it!

I made Bryanna's Buttah recipe using olive oil instead of a neutral oil for cooking this recipe. Or you can use regular vegan butter with a splash of olive oil.

To serve, you lay the potatoes on the platter, cover with the seitan and gravy and watch everyone devour. The potatoes soak up the gravy and become creamy themselves without the work of making mashed potatoes, all the while retaining the texture of potatoes. The seitan is cooked to golden crispness and the veggies are tender.

My CSA box contained rapini this week, so I sauteed the bunch with garlic and olive oil for our side dish. If you blanch any bitter greens in a large pot of boiling water, it will reduce the bitterness of the vegetable. Make sure to shock the blanched vegetables in ice water and drain well before proceeding with your cooking. 

Not a lot of leftovers with this one.

Cost Breakdown

seitan: $2

flour, chicken-style broth, spices: $.50

onion, veggies: $1.50

potatoes: $3

Total to make 5 servings:

$7.00

RECIPE UPDATE: this dish has been tested and revised and will be featured in the upcoming cookbook "Everyday Vegan Eats," by Zsu Dever.

roasted corn bisque

A bounty of corn was to be had in my CSA box a few weeks ago. We love this sweet taste of summer, roasted, barely cooked, slathered with butter and a dash of salt. In its simplicity, nothing really says summer more than an ear of corn. Unless it is a ripe tomato or juicy nectarine or decadent eggplant... 

I had a mushroom bisque slated for the menu on this day, but as soon as the new box arrived, it was time for a change of plans. Roasting corn brings out the sweetness in it, so let's talk roasting. 

Whenever a restaurant dish specifies "roasted" on the menu, the dish gets special attention from the customers. That is because the word 'roasted' evokes a sort of nostalgia, even though it is probably evoking a misconception. Most folks consider roasting to be done in the oven, but technically, and preferably, roasting should take place on the stove top where the cook can see, smell and hear the food cooking to perfection. It is the best way to maintain the proper heat in the pan and adjust seasoning and timing appropriately. Were we to be cooking animal flesh, we would need to finish it in the oven (under ideal conditions), but we have no such restrictions and can easily finish the cooking on the stove top. Roasting is not killer-high-heat cooking, but medium heat cooking. It gives you an opportunity to coerce the food to release its sweetness, its flavor, its aroma. It prevents burning the food (which makes it bitter) and leaves you with the best possible dish. This of course takes time, around 20 minutes, so patience is a must for success.

This bisque utilized the roasting process of corn. Since the corn releases its own 'cream' once blended, there is no need to add vegan milk or cream. After the soup is cooked properly, blend to pulverize it. At this point it is ready to serve as a rustic bisque. If you want a silky, smooth, velvety soup, one you would be able to order at a fancy restaurant, use a very fine sieve, a very fine cheesecloth, or nut bag, to remove the pulp. 

This is a little messy and takes a bit more time, but the resulting texture is worthy of a holiday table or a weekend-night dinner when you want to pamper yourself and your guest(s).

Cost Breakdown

corn: $3
onion, celery, carrot: $.75
herbs, garlic, tomato paste: $.75
flour, wine: $1
Total to make 4 servings:
$5.50

Roasted Corn Bisque Recipe