Recipe Thursdays - Breakfast Burrito

I try to eat relatively healthy.  I include very little processed foods and frozen meals in my diet.  What I've noticed about my eating habits is that if I eat a healthy breakfast, I'm on track for basically the rest of the day.  If I start my day out with a wrap or a salad, I'm good to go for a few hours.  However, if I start my day off with ten handfuls of pretzels during my drive to work, then I'm in trouble.   

As I was browsing Pinterest one day, I came across a recipe that advertised itself as "The Best Breakfast Burrito in Town" and I was intrigued.  I put it on my "To make" list.  What really sealed the deal for me was that you can freeze them for a few months, you just have to take them out of the freezer the night before you want to make it.  I had a few days off so I decided to make them!  Also I thought it was time for me to make something not from my Isa Does It cookbook.  You can read the recipe that I used HERE but I'm including the way that I made it below.  

Vegan Lentil Breakfast Burritos

2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided

1 cup of crumbled seitan

1 small onion, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper,chopped

1 pound package (16 oz.) lentils

2-1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt for the lentils

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (I used button)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup vegan cheese

your favorite salsa

however many soft tortillas you need

Directions:  Put the lentils and the teaspoon of salt in a large saucepan.  Add the water to cover the top of the lentils.  Bring to a boil and cover the pot.  Turn down to medium low heat.  Cook 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and the lentils are tender.  I added a splash of soy sauce.  Taste to see if the texture is done but not mushy.  Set lentils aside.

 

Anyone who ever ate Dinosaur Egg oatmeal will recognize this bowl

Heat the oil in a skillet to medium high heat.  Brown the seitan on all sides. Set aside.

Add your onion and bell pepper to the pan.  If the pan is dry add a little bit more oil.  Saute until the onion is translucent and the peppers and onions are turning a bit brown.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  Add the sliced mushrooms to the same skillet and saute for about 15-20 minutes.

Now place a little bit of everything in a tortilla until you have enough to fill up a burrito.  You should google, "how to fold burritos" because I'm terrible at it and will not be able to help you in this.  If it is possible, i actually got worse with each burrito. 

Heat each burrito in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.

Serve immediately. 

To serve after freezing:

Put in the refrigerator the day before serving.

Unwrap from the plastic wrap.

Heat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and then flip over. Heat 15-20 more seconds. 

Edit: Okay so after actually "serving after freezing" I have realized that 15-20 seconds isn't going to cut it. I do 30 each side!

 

My tower of burritos

Reasons I like this recipe: 1) I really like the flavor that coconut oil adds to the food.  2) Although it's a little time consuming to make, I ended up making 15 burritos so I'd say it was worth it!  3) they keep really well in the freezer.

What I would do differently: 1) I would season the lentils with some southwestern seasoning because I think they were a liiiittle too plain.  Also, let's be honest, lentils taste like dirt. I know the flavor is described as "earthy" but we all know it is actually "dirt-y".  2) I would add more vegetables, maybe some chopped carrots.  3) I think I would add some avocado or guacamole.  

If you are like some people I know (not me even though I'm working on it) and like to make your meals in advance, then this would be a really great addition to anyone's food prep day.

ps. Here's a bonus pic of my super cute dog Cleo.  She's almost 15, deaf and blind but she's still pretty spry and gives cats a run for their money.  

I love this face. 

ciao ciao -Katelyn

Seitan is my favorite

I eat SO much seitan.  It's my favorite (aside from the "haha i thought you said SATAN" jokes).  I posted the recipe that I use before, and I will post it again because it is perfect.  Some of the seitan recipes you find online need cheesecloth, and there's boiling involved and you have to spin around nine times and have it blessed by a priest for it to turn out right and it's a pain in the ass. BUT NOT THIS RECIPE.
This literally takes three minutes to throw together and then it has to bake for an hour. Done.
CLICK HERE FOR BEST SEITAN RECIPE EVARRRR

I usually make it about once a week because I eat it so often.  Here are a few pictures of my weekly seitan bake.

 I ordered this stuff online because they don't sell it in the stores here and they sent me a whole box of it.  It is unreal the amount of Vital Wheat Gluten that I have in my pantry. 

Doesn't that look gooood? Or maybe a little like vomit.  Whatevs.  In the ingredients list, it says to use soy sauce, but lately I've been doing 1/2 soy sauce and 1/2 Bragg's Liquid Aminos. 

When you mix it, it turns into a nice dough.  When I try to describe seitan to people without making it sound gross, I say that it's like bread, but denser and approximately 400 times more delicious. 

You can do basically anything with it.  Sometimes I chop it up and put it in salads, sometimes I put it in a stir fry, or fajitas or my new favorite thing to put it in: wrap.  Lately I've been making this perfect wrap with a spiced tomato flour tortilla, vegan mozzarella shreds, baby spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and peppers.  The sauce I use is a mixture of Larrupin sauce (Click here to learn about the wonder that is laurrupin sauce) and balsamic vinegar and it is so so so good that my mouth is salivating as I type. 

My aunt introduced me to Larrupin sauce when I was in California a few months ago, and you can usually only get it in Humboldt County but I found somewhere that delivers online and I just realized today that I have been spending $16 a jar on this sauce.  But you know what? It's worth it because it's amazing and perfect.  It's a mustard dill sauce.  Just looking at mustard used to make me want to vom, but now Larrupin sauce is ALMOST tied with balsamic vinegar as my favorite condiment and anyone that knows me knows that this is a BIG DEAL.  

Also last night I went on a pizza date with my boyfrannn at my favorite pizzeria, Il Panda and I got a pizza marinara and it was all sorts of delicious.  He got a diavolo which has cheese and like three different kinds of meat but that is irrelevant.  What is relevant though is the wine because it was on point.

The moral of this post is that seitan is delicious and everyone should make it and eat it because it's magical. brb going to make more seitan

xo Katelyn

ps. I just got my Isa Does It vegan cookbook in the mail after waiting for TWO MONTHS and I will be making something from it shortly! 

Recipe Thursdays - Roasted Seitan Fajitas

Last week I got bored on one of my off days and I decided to make some seitan.  I love seitan.  People make fun of me all the time and say, "Oh I thought you meant Satan." Haha, that joke never gets old... oh wait.... yes it does.

ANYWAYS.

This is the recipe for seitan that I use.  It's insanely easy.  I'm not picky about my seitan.  Even if it's a little over or under cooked, I'm still going to eat it, because it's still pretty delicious.  I haven't even tried any other seitan recipes because this one is just too easy and too good.  You don't have to deal with any boiling or any cheese cloth.  You just mix it all up and roll it in parchment paper and bake it and you're good to go.  
RECIPE HERE

As I was gathering my ingredients for the seitan, I noticed that I also had the necessary ingredients to make FAJITAS.  Remembering that seitan fajitas is a recipe on my Vegan Recipe board on pinterest, I saw an opportunity and I took it.

Roasted Seitan Fajitas
I followed this recipe basically to the letter.  I think I would have used less sugar in the future.  Also, I added about two tablespoons of nutritional yeast to the dry ingredients. 

My Italian oven is so small that I have to put things diagonally if I want them to fit usually. 

 

Doesn't that look GOOOOD? I rolled it in a whole wheat tortilla with melted vegan cheddar cheese and some salsa. It was amazing.  I died. A million times. Everyone should try it! It's amazing and delicious and SO easy! 

I would rate it as follows 

Taste: 9/10

Ease: 7/10 

Ciao ciao! Katelyn