Vegan Yum - Seitan Braised Cabbage

So this recipe, I'm willing to bet, is even more delicious fresh off the stove. Unfortunately, I do not know, at the moment, because my dog decided to spill Kool-Aid all over my brand new white & blue ottoman the minute the timer went off, so I only got to taste it after reheating.

Fortunately, it was still super yummy. I'm pretty nuts about this cookbook - being vegan AND on Weight Watchers sounds a little insane, but "Appetite for Reduction" (by the cooking geniuses behind Veganomican) is amazing, totally revamping traditional vegan recipes normally filled with cashew cream & earth balance and replacing them for littler oil and more broth.


I know cabbage is kind of a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but if you're in the former party you will LOVE this.

I'm going to preface this by saying that this is great over a baked potato, so in advance of serving, toss 4 potatoes - rinsed, rubbed with kosher salt, wrapped in aluminum foil, and poked 6 or 7 times with a fork into a 425 degree oven for an hour or two.

Braised Cabbage with Seitan
adapted from "Appetite for Reduction" available HERE.

1 tbsp olive oil - the recipe originally called for only 1 tsp, but even in my nonstick pan, everything just burned with that little oil. If you can pull it off with less, however, go for it!
8 oz seitan slices
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 heaping tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups veg broth
1 head green cabbage
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the seitan in oil until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Use nonstick cooking spray as needed. Add the garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes, and saute for a 30 seconds more. Add a splash of the veg broth to deglaze the pan, then add the cabbage and the rest of the broth. Sprinkle with salt. Cover the pan and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt and serve immediately, over a baked potato.

Vegan Faves - P.F. Chang's

I'll be honest with you - we don't eat out much. Me and my boyfriend are recent college grads on a pretty tight budget, and since restaurant eating often ends with me either having to order something sub-par, or being forced to complain and send back food they've obviously tainted with animal products (butter, parmesan, once I was given actual chicken after telling our waitress I was vegan), it's not really our number one activity. Usually kept to one weekend night each week, if that.

But this week my parents stopped through town to visit and we went to P.F. Chang's, where I was pleasantly surprised.

I have this app (I'm an iPhone addict) that tells me what's vegan at a bunch of average chain restaurants, and when I looked them up there were like 20 choices-way more than I usually have. The best part? What I had was AWESOME.

So here are my P.F. Chang's recommendations:

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps - The meat eaters were convinced they were better than the chicken!

Spring Rolls - Really good, although not necessarily on my diet...one was totally worth it though.



Spicy Green Beans - Again, YUM. I shared these with a few other people.



Ma Po Tofu - My boyfriend even ate this, and he's a tofu hater in general. Actually, my feeling were a teeny bit hurt when he said "I'd like tofu if you could cook it like this!" But I tried to let it roll of my shoulders and decided to just be glad he liked SOME form of tofu.

So yeah, I know it's a chain. And as far as restaurant recommendations go, it's not the most creative thing. But we don't live in San Francisco, L.A., or New York City, so we'll take our good vegan food where we can get it!

Plus, in the non-health related category, they make a really yummy pear mojito. : )