My Writing Roots & Contest-Worthy Recipes

I wanted to take some time to do some non-recipe related blogging. Since writing was my first love before cooking, I’ve been trying more and more to incorporate the two together, and I’ve been using health websites, recipe and essay contests and a friend’s herbal business to put pen to paper as much as possible (yes, I like to write the old-school way first!).

I absolutely love blending writing with my passions for cooking and health, so here’s a run down of some of our more notable appearances on some of our favorite websites! So click the links, follow the websites, find them on Twitter, friend them on Facebook and connect with some of the best 🙂

Kale Recipe Contest on Yumuniverse! Vote for us here 

Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad

3rd Place winner of Slow Food USA’s recipe contest AND currently being taste tested for Vegetarian Times!

Eggplant & Polenta Sandwiches

Numerous herbal/health articles for Alternatives, an awesome website for herbal medicine and supplements

Some of my personal favorites- “10 Food Rules Everyone Should Live By” and “4 Things to Look for When Buying a Yoga Mat” on MindBodyGreen

A worthwhile essay contest for Our Hen House, about “Why It’s Unethical to Eat Meat”

That’s all for now-happy reading!

Homemade Seitan Nuggets

This attempt at homemade seitan, was actually the first time I had ever had seitan of ANY kind. I didn’t really get what it was (turns out it’s mostly just wheat gluten), so I held off on testing it under because it falls under the “fake meat and/or soy” category. I was hoping these nuggets I adapted from Post Punk Kitchen would fool Jim’s niece Bella when she was over last weekend, but just the color of them instantly made her dislike him. Had she gotten past the dark hue (she’s used to processed bleached chicken), she probably would have liked them! The only thing I suggest is slicing them a little smaller before cooking, because if they’re too large, they can get a bit rubbery.

FOR THE SEITAN

1 cup wheat gluten flour

3/4 cup vegetable broth

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

Juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

COOKING BROTH

5 cups vegetable broth

1 tbsp molasses (optional-will make for a darker color

3 cups water

COATING

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/2 cup cornmeal

2/3 cup almond milk

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp sea salt

• Bring vegetable broth and water to a boil
• Meanwhile, mix together wheat gluten, yeast, salt, mustard, black pepper, and paprika
• In another bowl, whisk together broth, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic
• Slowly, stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients together until it forms a sticky dough
• Stretch out dough into a long rope and slice into thin, small slices ( 2X3 inches)
• Once the broth boils, lower to a simmer and add seitan slices
• Let sit, stirring infrequently for 40 minutes
• After 40 minutes, strain pieces and let cool
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Mix together almond milk, olive oil and salt, and in a sepearate bowl mix together breadcrumbs and cornmeal
• Dip seitan into wet mix then dredge through dry mix and place onto greased cooking sheet
• Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on each side