dinner | Vedged Out

Vegan Sesame Orange Seitan

For the sesame seitan strips:

1/2 of this seitan recipe (3 cutlets) OR 1 package store bought seitan OR for GF peeps, 1/2 package soy curls prepared according to package directions, OR 1 block store bought tempeh, cut into thin strips

1/3 C. non GMO cornstarch

1/3 C. raw sesame seeds

1/4 t. sea salt

1/2 t. ground black pepper

2 T. ground golden flax seed

1 t. baking powder

1/3 C. water

1/4 C. expeller pressed safflower oil (gasp! This is the first recipe on my site where I fry something in oil!)

For the Orange Sauce:

juice of 2 oranges (about 1 cup)

zest of 1 orange

2 T. bragg’s liquid aminos

2 T. agave

1 t. minced fresh ginger

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1 t. non GMO cornstarch

sliced scallions for garnish

Method: In a large skillet, start heating the safflower oil over medium heat. Then, in a medium bowl, combine the cornstarch, sesame seeds, baking power, water, ground flax, salt and pepper. Put the seitan/tempeh strips into the batter and gently stir to coat. Working in batches, put strips of seitan in the hot oil and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden, I needed to do three batches to cook all my seitan, once strips are cooked, place on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Set the cooked strips in the oven on warm while you make the orange sauce. To make the orange sauce, combine all ingredients in a small bowl, pour into the same skillet you used to cook the seitan and cook down for 3-4 minutes until the sauce is thick and syrupy. At this point you can add the seitan to the sauce to flavor it completely, or if you like your seitan extra crispy, you can drizzle the sauce over each individual plate. I served mine on white basmati rice, because I had ran out of brown… Don’t make the same mistake. Sprinkle chopped scallions over the seitan for extra yumminess.

Vegan Margherita Pizza

If you don’t want to make a pizza from scratch, then use bottled pizza sauce, and a pre-bought crust, but whatever you do, Please make the fresh Moxarella Cheese. It’s nearly instant.

Homemade Vegan Moxarella, without any artificial anything. It browns and stretches.

Individual Pizzas Make Everyone Happy!

Vegan Margherita Pizzas

This Recipe Makes 4 individual pizzas. Don’t forget to have fresh tomatoes and basil on hand. First, start the dough.

Pizza Dough:

This crust contains gluten, for several gluten free crust options, click here.

2 C. organic all purpose flour
1 C. organic whole wheat flour
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast (1 packet)
1 cup warm water
2 t. sea salt
1 t. agave

Method: Combine all ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes until doubled. While the dough is rising, make the pizza sauce and the fresh moxarella cheese.

The Pizza Sauce:

one 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried basil
1 t. agave
sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method: saute the garlic in a little vegetable broth or the olive oil in a small saucepan for a minute or two on medium heat. Add all the other ingredients. Reduce heat to low and let simmer while you make the Moxarella Cheese.

Fresh Moxarella Cheese:

I wanted to call this “Foxy Moxy,” but that name has been taken by some unsavory characters on the web….

This cheese stays in a “melted” type form until baked, and then it forms a nice crust, like dairy cheese does. It’s not intended to be eaten plain (like real dairy fresh mozzarella can). It’s also fairly salty to make it stand out in your recipes, if you prefer less salt, please feel free to reduce to 1/2 teaspoon, or less, but the flavor won’t be as pronounced.

Note: This recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my site and is therefore one of the most copied/imitated. If you make this cheese and like it enough to blog about it, please have the ethics to respect me, my creativity and the weeks that I spent developing this recipe by simply linking to this post rather than sharing the recipe on your own site. ❤️ -Somer

1/4 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for several hours and then drained IF you don’t have a high powered blender)
1 cup hot water
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 small garlic clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Method: Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into a small saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over medium high heat. After a couple of minutes the mixture will start to look weird, like it’s curdling or separating. This is totally normal, reduce heat to medium and KEEP stirring so you don’t burn the cheese to the bottom of the pot. Keep cooking and stirring til really thick (about 2-3 more minutes) and the mixture becomes like a cohesive mass of melted dairy cheese and stretches like in the photo below. Remove from heat and let cool a bit while you assemble the pizzas. Moxarella stores well in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days and can be used to make excellent grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, etc….

Assembly: Your dough should be nearly ready now, so when it hits 60 minutes or is doubled, punch it down and divide it into four pieces. Preheat the oven to 500°. Roll out the dough on a floured surface as thin or thick as you like. We opted for thicker pizzas this round. Spread each pizza with 1/4 of the pizza sauce. Top with fresh tomato slices, dollops of the fresh moxarella cheese and fresh basil leaves like shown in the photo below. Pre-Bake Bake individual pizzas for 10-12 minutes on a baking sheet until cheese and the crusts are nicely browned. Note: there is a very fine line between nicely browned and burnt here, so please, watch your pizzas carefully. Sprinkle pizzas with a bit of additional chopped fresh basil once out of the oven if desired. I won’t take any responsibility for anyone burning their mouth on hot cheese.