Happy Day After Valentine's Day

Valentine's is a pretty silly holiday if you ask me. This one was pretty romantic to me, though. We stayed in and made seitan stroganoff and german chocolate cupcakes and watched several episodes of the reality show "Work Out". Okay, that show isn't very romantic and my bf really dislikes reality tv but it was a good excuse to cuddle on the couch.

I'm not big on presents for v-day...if it must be celebrated it should be as an expression of affection, not a reason to buy cheap roses or giant heart shaped boxes covered with red taffeta and plastic flowers and filled with cheap chocolates. Last year, you may remember, I gave my bf a big bottle of sweet smoked paprika (with a pretty pink bow on it.) Cuz that's how I roll.

This year we both sort-of kind-of got each other something...my bf wanted to fly us to Las Vegas just for the day/evening or maybe one night so we could see Cirque du Soleil's "Ka" as a surprise, but then he couldn't get tickets, so we are going to go probably within the next month and it is kind of semi-officially to celebrate valentines day. I think being flown anywhere as a surprise is pretty well...sweet and romantic no matter what the time of year!

My gift is late, too. I wanted to make my bf vegan coconut bonbons and wrap them up all pretty-like. I didn't manage to get it done in time, but I WILL get it done.

The following is my recipe for seitan (and mushroom) stroganoff. It started off as a "regular" stroganoff recipe that I adapted to be vegetarian maybe ten years ago, and now I have made a few more adaptations to make it completely vegan.

I like to pronounce the dish as "Satan stroking-off".

Seitan Stroganoff
(makes 4 servings)

Olive Oil
1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped finely
6-8 oz. Seitan, cut in strips 1-2 inches in length
aprox. a dozen medium size cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup red wine (the heartier the better)
2 tablespoons flour
1-2 T water

1/4 c. vegan sour cream
1-2 T dijon mustard
fresh Dill, about 1/4 c. chopped
sea salt
white pepper

eggless egg noodles, OR mini lasagna noodles OR if you can't find those, rotini will be fine (or you can always use rice or quinoa)

Put a large pot of water to boil on the stove (for noodles.)

In a hot saute pan, put 1-2 T. olive oil. Add shallots and start sauteeing on medium heat.

In a smallish saucepan heat the vegetable broth to boiling.

When shallots have started to turn soft and golden, add the mushrooms.

Add the wine to the vegetable broth and return to boil, then let simmer until it is reduced in volume by about half.

mix the quarter cup of sour cream with the dijon mustard to taste. You want it to have dijon flavor without screaming "mustard!" Stir in half of the chopped dill and set aside.

Add noodles to boiling water and cook to al dente. When done, drain then return to pot with a little olive oil to keep them from sticking and set aside.

Add seitan to shallot/mushroom mixture and saute until browned.

Combine flour and water to make a paste and then whisk paste into wine/broth and cook until thickened.

Pour thickened wine/broth mixture into shallot/mushroom/seitan mixture and stir, then remove from heat. Add sour cream/dijon/dill mixture and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the seitan stroganoff over the noodles/rice/quinoa and garnish with the remaining dill.

Enjoy!