Seitan Picatta With Olives and Green Beans

This was quite the "stick to your ribs" sorta dish, but with a fresh twist.

The base was a delicious veganized rich, garlic mashed potato recipe I got from Cook's Country. And the main ingredient of battered seitan is something one can rarely go wrong with, this not being an exception to that rule. The potatoes and seitan were the heavy half, while the freshness of the green beans, shallots and lemon juice were the lighter half of the dish. And the olives and capers added a needed salty kick.

The assembled plate looked like a freaky science experiment that was growing sparse, thick-follicled green hair. I think I put it together as they suggested, but since we were the only ones looking at it and it was two minutes I'll never get back, the second round was just a pile of green beans plopped on top.

All in all, this was a lovely, nutritious and tasty meal. Time will tell if I make it again, since it wasn't a total standout.

If you're going to make the seitan on the same day as the main dish, do this on a weekend or a day you have off. Otherwise, be prepared to eat a late dinner.

Difficulty: Moderate. A decent amount of chopping and preparation.
Cleanup: So so. Not easy but not the worst.
Alterations: I used dried parsley on top. Hey, parsley is expensive here, especially for just a garnish.
Price: About $10-11.

This recipe is on page 174 of Veganomicon.

Spicy Peanut And Eggplant Soup

If I'm going to make, and then eat, a soup, please let it be this one! This was probably one of the best soups I've ever made and is now one of my favorite meals.

It was creamy, spicy and sweet with a rich, deep flavor. The eggplant, tomatoes and green beans were oh so tender and the blister peanuts we used on top were the perfect crunchy garnish. Even my eggplant-hating husband didn't mind the eggplant here since it was so tender.

I didn't make any adaptations with the exception of not seeding the chiles and using 3 instead of 1. It takes a lot of heat to impress us.

We served the soup over/with some rice. I dished mine up like a curry over rice while my husband mixed a smaller amount of rice into his soup. I think his way was probably better as you get to focus more on the deliciousness and loveliness of the soup rather than the rice.

This was a fair amount of effort to make with all of the chopping of vegetables, but it only required one stock pot, so cleanup was easy.

One modification I almost forgot to mention: We, especially I, like peanut stews a little sweet, so I added about 4 tablespoons of brown sugar.

The cost was in the $11-12 range. Not cheap, but for us not prohibitively pricey. And who cares about price when it's this good. Did I actually say that?

The recipe is on page 147 of Veganomicon. Make it.