Seitan O'Greatness

I finally tried the famous Seitan O'Greatness that was first posted on The Post Punk Kitchen forums a couple years ago by Lachesis. It takes no more than 10 minutes of active time (so easy!), although you have to wait an hour and a half for it to bake. It's worth the wait though. The result is a chewy, spicy, pepperoni-esque log of protein. The texture is much better than you'll get from boiled seitan. I haven't tried it in any dishes yet, but I think it would be great ground up or chopped up in a spicy Indian or Mexican dish. Don't have the vegetarian Worcestshire sauce or tomato paste? No biggie- just substitute soy sauce and ketchup, respectively.

Seitan O'Greatness

• 1.5 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1-2 tsp pepper (I used 2 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you don't want it spicy)
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 cups water
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 325°.

In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients (the first 10 ingredients). Mix the liquid ingredients (the rest of the ingredients) in a smaller mixing bowl and mix well.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well, then knead for a couple of minutes. It shouldn't stick to your hands.

Form into a log (6-8" long), wrap tightly in foil, twisting ends. Bake for 90 minutes. When done baking, unwrap and leave out to cool all the way. Then wrap it in foil or plastic and refrigerate. Slice to use as desired.