Vegan PF Chang's Orange Peel Beef Seitan aka "crappy mall Chinese Food"

Crappy mall food is one joy in life that was ripped from me in my silly decision to become vegan. BUT LO AND BEHOLD. I have made Crappy Mall Chinese Food-- specifically a rip of PF Chang's Orange Peel Beef.


1 package WestSoy Seitan
Sri Rocha Hot Sauce to taste (I used about 1 t.)
3 T. Bragg's (or any soy sauce)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 c. flour
1 c. oil for frying

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Mix the seitan with the hot sauce, Bragg's, and garlic. Use a fork to separate any big pieces. Toss them in flour, dump them in the hot oil (dip the corner of one piece in to see if it starts to bubble to be sure that the oil is hot enough). Deep fry for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a metal strainer, and set on paper towel to cool/crisp up.

1 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 c. mushrooms (any kind), chopped
1 c. frozen peas
1-2 t. chili garlic sauce (to taste)
any brand of "mandarin orange sauce" from the grocery store (avoid the "marinade" with soy sauce in it)
1/2 c. plain tomato sauce (secret ingredient)
3 T. Bragg's
1 T. oil

1 package of spaghetti, soba, or udon noodles (or rice)

Saute the garlic in the oil, add the onions and reduce heat. Saute until translucent. Add the vegetables in the order that you normally stir fry vegetables (carrots, then peas, mushrooms last). Add the Bragg's and the chili garlic sauce and let the stew for a few minutes. Mix in the orange sauce and the tomato sauce and the cooked noodles. At the VERY LAST COUPLE MINUTES add in the fried seitan. If you add it to early, it'll get soggy.

SO GOOD!

Best Vegan Food in Detroit, according to me

So, I'm originally from Metro Detroit, but haven't lived here in about 7 years. Been having a hard time adjusting to the lack of vegan options/difficulty eating out, so I have rarely strayed from my comfort zone (hot bar at Whole Foods).

1. Blue Nile (9 mile near Livernois): All-you-can-eat Ethiopian (with a veg option)... it's pretty spendy, but nice.

2. Tokyo Sushi (2 locations that i know of: Squirrel and Walton in Rochester, and next to Noir Leather in downtown Royal Oak). I always get an order of "air conditioner rolls" (asparagus, cucumber, avocado), an inari pocket, and miso. To me, best sushi in town.

3. Mind, Body, Spirit (on Main St in downtown Rochester)... I haven't been here yet, and it's had mixed reviews. Restaurant.com has one of those cheap coupon things, I bought one, but haven't gotten around to going yet.

4. Inn Season Cafe: (4th street, just east of Main Street)... it's good, sorta spendy and always obnoxiously busy. I don't go there a lot, but it's a nice place. Everything is vegetarian, and pretty much everything can be made vegan.

5. Chipotle and Qdoba: i love burritos and hav yet to find a delicious non-chain with vegan options. I guess there is one in Ann Arbor/Ypsi, but I haven't been out there yet.

6. Palm Palace (everywhere, I go to the one on Squirrel and University).... these places have popped up in all the vacant La Shish buildings after they shadily shut down all overnight... nowhere near as tasty as the $16 million dollars of tax evasion that probably funded terrorism, but still delicious because Middle Eastern food is the most delicious. Nothing will ever be as delicious as La Shish.

7. AJ's Music Cafe (on 9 mile in downtown Ferndale)... coffeeshop that has a lot of vegan options. The vegan philly cheesesteak sounds and looks disgusting, but is actually tasty. The mexican tofu wrap thing was meh, but the dudes there are always super nice.

8. Zoup (I go to the one in Somerset mall): finding vegan mall food is so difficult, but Zoup is really delicious. Soup is actually my favorite food. The pea soup is AWESOME. The sourdough bread is vegan (I checked). They mark things as vegetarian or dairy free, but not vegan, but have a binder of all the ingredients behind the counter and are really nice about it.

ok. that's all i feel like writing. I am still in search of a brunch place.

Hungarian goulash

While I suspect my mother’s Hungarian Goulash’ is more Midwestern than Eastern European, it’s something I’ve been wanting to make for awhile. It was one of my favorite foods as a kid and it is incredibly easy to make. Perfect for fall when you are sick of all your normal soups and stews.

-12oz seitan—I use Ray’s wheat meat, which I believe is PA-local… any seitan will do
-one small yellow onion, chopped finely
-garlic to taste, finely chopped (I used 3 cloves)
-1.5 c. water
-3/4 c catsup
-2T Worchestire Sauces (I use Wizard’s, but there is a recipe for a vegan kind here in case you can’t find Wizard’s… recipe courtesy of Jenny Lewis)
-1T brown sugar
-1t salt
-2t paprika
-2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in 4-6 oz of cold water.
-pasta (cooked) my mom always served it with the wide, flat egg noodles, so get a pasta shaped sort of like that. I use the mushroom-cap shaped guys at Whole Foods

In a skillet sauté the onions, garlic and seitan in some oil until the onions are translucent. Add sautéed mixture to a pot and then add the rest of the ingredients (except the cornstarch and pasta). Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch water to thicken and heat for 1-2 more minutes. Serve over pasta.