Seitan Holiday Ham

We always have ham for Christmas and Easter which I used to love.  Now when the holidays come around I've been left wondering what I will eat along with my family.  I have finally come up with the solution.  Seitan Holiday Ham!  I haven't had ham now for almost 4 years, but I think this recipe is a great substitute if you are looking for something a little "meaty".  The flavor is a lot like those hams you buy with glaze packets, if you have ever tried one of those - kind of sweet.  I love to use my meat slicer (I got one for really cheap at Shopko) and slice it really thin to make sandwiches later.  This recipe makes a fairly large roast, but you could try halving the recipe.  I haven't tried halving it yet, (and probably won't because I love the leftovers, but I'm guessing you would only cook it for 90 minutes rather than 2 hours.  Just make sure it seems pretty firm to the touch before you take it out of the oven.  If you try halving it, let me know how it turned out!  One more thing - don't forget to buy the olives for your fingers - it makes eating even more enjoyable!

Seitan Holiday Ham

Ingredients
2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp liquid smoke
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

n a large bowl, mix together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and ground cloves.

In a large measuring cup or separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.  Gently stir into the dry ingredients until totally combined.  It should be a ball of dough.  Knead it for a couple of minutes until it becomes very elastic, adding a little vital wheat gluten if needed. It should hold it's shape.

Shape the dough into a roast shape and wrap in a large sheet of aluminum foil, twisting the ends to seal.  Then wrap in another sheet of foil.  Bake for 2 hours.  Carefully remove the roast from the aluminum foil and let it cool.  Refrigerate it once it's cool.  Tastes best the next day!

To make the holiday ham glaze:
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp molasses
1 Tbsp vegan butter (such as Earth Balance) or coconut oil
a few drops of liquid smoke
salt to taste
whole cloves (approx. 20-30)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT for the cloves in a small saucepan.  Heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook reducing until thickened.

Score the ham in a crisscross pattern, making little diamonds (like in the pictures - if you can see it). They should only be about 1/4 inch deep, 1/2 inch at the most.  Put cloves into the ham.  Glaze the ham and bake in oven for 20 minutes.

Baked Seitan

For those of you who are new to the whole "vegan" thing you may not have ever heard of seitan.  I try to stay away from soy products as much as possible (for my own reasons) and so I don't eat a lot of tofu.  Seitan is what I eat in place of it and it is something I can make from scratch.  It is considered a meat replacement (vital wheat gluten is full of protein), but I don't like to neccesarily think of it like that.  I am not really trying to replace anything, I am just trying new things.  Switching to a plant based diet has opened a lot of doors and I have discovered a lot of new and interesting things to eat and I guess seitan is one of those things.  You can buy it at the store, but I like to make my own - that way I know what is in it. I am trying to not buy as many processed foods.

There are many recipes out there, but this one is what I've come up with and really like.  The fun thing about seitan is you can put your own favorite seasonings in it to make it your own.  You can steam or boil seitan, but I prefer to bake it in the oven, it gives it a more dense and "meatier" texture.  My favorite thing to make with it is reubens.  Mmmm... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Seitan is very versitile and I have a lot of fun coming up with new ideas for it.  I will be sure to share some of them on here!  Seitan can be used as a filler also, like beans - it is very filling like meat and a whole lot cheaper! So stay tuned and I will give you some yummy uses for your seitan!

 

Baked Seitan

Ingredients
1-1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp pepper
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup cold water
1 Tbsp maple syrup
4 tsp A1 Steak Sauce
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Better Than Bouillon No Beef Base
 

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.  In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients (including garlic).  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with your hand -- until you can knead it like dough.  Knead until fully incorporated.  It should sort of resemble a firm ball of dough.

Roll into a log shape and wrap in 2 layers of aluminum foil -- twisting the ends to seal.

Bake for 90 minutes.

Raviolis

My girls love raviolis - it is one of their favorite things to eat.  They often ask for me to make them for dinner.  I haven't had any luck finding any vegan versions at the grocery store so I have had to get a little creative.  I don't want my girls to feel like being vegan you are missing out on anything, so I try to accommodate them when I can.  So I have come up with a delicious alternative to the traditional ravioli, and I do have to say...they are awesome.  I can't wait to make this recipe again!  They are actually pretty fast and easy to make because I used gyoza (wonton) dough from the store.  You could always make your own dough if you wanted to take the time.  I just don't have a lot of time to spare with two teenagers in the house.  I make the filling with garbanzo beans, although I think most people would typically use tofu.  I personally try to stay away from soy when I can and I think the garbanzos are great in this recipe!  This recipe will probably only serve 2-4 people.  For my family I would definitely double it, because they eat them like they are going out of style!

Raviolis 

1 15.5 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (1 ½ cups)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 ½ Tbsp Vegenaise
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp barley miso
Salt and pepper to taste
Gyoza wrappers (24)
 

Combine all the ingredients except for the gyoza wrappers in a food processor.  Mix until creamy, it doesn’t need to be completely smooth – some texture is good. 


Put a slightly rounded ½ Tbsp of mixture on the center of a gyoza wrapper.  Moisten the edges lightly with water and fold over.  Press the edges together to seal.

Drop the raviolis in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes.  Drain water and serve with your favorite sauce.