📂 Legumes
#Spoon Dish
#Vegan
#High Protein
#Comfort Food
Seitan Stew with Potatoes, Peas, and Carrots
🍲 Grandma's stew, now 100% plant-based. A slow-cooked stew with melting potatoes, tender vegetables, and protein-packed bites of juicy seitan.
🛒 Ingredients
- 10.5 oz Seitan
- 2 Potatoes
- 2 Carrots
- 3.5 oz Peas
- 1 Onion and 1/2 Red pepper
- Vegetable broth and Paprika
🍲 Vegan Stew: Tradition and Wheat Protein
No one has to give up the wonderful texture and flavor of a good homemade stew because they eat a plant-based diet or want to reduce meat consumption. Seitan, also known as "plant meat" (made from wheat gluten), absorbs the flavors of the broth wonderfully and provides a dense, highly proteinaceous bite to this comforting spoon dish.
🌱 Why it is exceptionally healthy
- Zero Fat Protein Bomb: Seitan is almost pure wheat protein (about 24g per 100g) and has practically no fat or cholesterol, unlike traditional red stew meats.
- Starch and Energy: Boiled potatoes provide complex carbohydrates that deliver stable energy and long-term satiety.
- Broth Micronutrients: By cooking the vegetables (carrot, peas) in the broth, all the water-soluble minerals and vitamins stay in the sauce that we then eat.
📝 Step-by-Step Preparation
- Browning the Seitan: Cut 10.5 oz (300g) of seitan into bite-sized cubes. In a pot, put 1 tbsp (15ml) of EVOO and brown the seitan over medium-high heat for 4 minutes to seal it. Remove and set aside.
- The Sofrito Base: In the same pot, add a little more oil and sweat 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, and 1/2 red bell pepper, all very finely chopped, for 10 minutes over medium heat.
- Hard Vegetables: Peel and slice 2 carrots and cut 2 medium potatoes into irregular chunks (snapping them so they release starch and thicken the broth). Add them to the pot and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika.
- The Union: Return the browned seitan to the pot. Add 1 bay leaf, salt, black pepper, and cover everything with about 20 fl oz (600ml) of good quality vegetable broth. Bring to a boil.
- Slow Cooking: Lower the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer gently for about 25 minutes.
- Peas and Resting: With 5 minutes left, add 3.5 oz (100g) of peas (frozen or fresh). Turn off the heat and let the stew rest for 10 minutes before serving; the flavors will settle and the sauce will thicken a bit more.
