Omnivore Challenge: Roasted Seitan with Mushroom Gravy, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Butter Potatoes

Roasted Seitan with Mushroom Gravy

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butter Potatoes

For dinner two nights ago, I decided to oven roast my homemade seitan and serve it with gravy and two sides: roasted brusssels sprouts with parmesan and walnuts, and roasted butter potatoes. My plan was to stick everything in the oven, timing things so that it all came out together. I was 2/3rds successful at this (I should've par-boiled the potatoes! Stupid long-cooking-time potatoes. That's why they're not pictured).

I thought the seitan with gravy and the brussels sprouts were awesome (potatoes were underwhelming). Lovely Carnivorous Boyfriend, however, was decidedly unimpressed with the seitan (though I did appreciate his willingness to try new things). "I found the texture disturbing," said LCBF. So I ate his seitan and felt mildly guilty for feeding him simply sprouts and potatoes until he declared the sprouts "tremendously nommy" as well as "classic" "awesome" and "good for you." I was left with the impression that he might break up with me if I try to feed him seitan again.

Recipes after the jump . . .


Oven-roasted Seitan

Fairly self-explanatory. I brushed a loaf of seitan with grapeseed oil and roasted it on a roasting rack at 350 F for 45 min (turning after 30 min.). I then sliced the roasted seitan into thick slices (like roast!) and served covered with mushroom gravy.

Mushroom Gravy

8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms, sliced thinly
2 shallots, chopped
2 tbl butter
1 tbl flour
1 tbl olive oil (optional)
1 c. mushroom broth
1 tsp. fresh thyme
salt & pepper

Melt about 1 tbl. butter in a large pan. Add shallots and cook over med-high heat until translucent and starting to brown (3-5 min). Add mushrooms and cook until browned (adding olive oil if necessary) and all liquids have been absorbed. Set aside.

Melt 1 tbl. of butter in a saucepan and wisk in 1tbl of flour, forming a roux. Cook for a few min. to remove flour taste, until it starts to brown. Gradually wisk in the mushroom broth, keeping the mixture smooth, until fully incorporated. It should be boiling a bit.

Turn down heat and mix in mushrooms and thyme. Add salt & pepper to taste. Gravy can be kept warm on low heat for a little while.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

brussels sprouts of various sizes
olive oil
salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese
Walnuts

Preheat oven--they'll roast in 30-40 min. in a 350 F oven; quicker at a 375 or 400. Choose your heat according to the rest of the meal's timing.

Rinse sprouts and prepare them by cutting off the stems and slicing larger ones in half. Toss with olive oil, salt (I like to use kosher salt), and pepper to coat. Arrange cut side down in a baking dish.

Roast for 20 min. and check on them. When they're a bit browned and look like they need another 5 min, add walnuts and parmesan on top of the sprouts to toast/melt.

Make sure they're well done before taking them out of the oven. I like them a little blackened. Yum!

Roasted Butter Potatoes

3-4 butter potatoes
olive oil
a couple thyme sprigs
salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Scrub the potatoes, but don't peel. Cut into chunks and toss with olive oil and salt in a baking dish. Tuck in a few sprigs of thyme. Roast for ~45 min. or until browned, occasionally shaking the dish to keep from sticking.