Middle Eastern Braised Seitan with Apricots, Olives and Lemon

My husband made dinner tonight while I called in plays from the other room. Since he doesn’t venture into the kitchen often, I am going to say this recipe is easy to pull together.

I had the seitan in the freezer, so that was the biggest time saver. I try to always have 3 or 4 packages of seitan in my freezer for times when I need a quick dinner, like tonight. I wanted dinner to have a Middle Eastern flavor and to be quick and this is what I came up with.

Middle Eastern Braised Seitan with Apricots, Olives and Lemon
Serves 2

Ingredients for the braised seitan:

1 red onion, diced fine
1 tablespoon olive oil
I tablespoon flour
1 cup of pinot grigio.
¼ cup of dried apricots, diced fine
6 green olives, minced
½ teaspoon ras el hanout
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup of water
juice of 1 lemon
8 ounce seitan roast, cut into cutlets
2 tablespoons of cilantro, minced

Ingredients for the couscous:

1 cup of whole wheat couscous
1 cup of water
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Directions:

Sauté the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the flour to the pan and stir to evenly coat the onions with flour. Add the wine, apricots, olives, ras el hanout, salt, water, lemon juice and seitan to the pan. Cover the pan and simmer for a few minutes to allow all the flavors to blend.

Meanwhile combine the couscous, water and kosher salt in a microwave safe container with a lid (or cover with plastic). Cook on high for 3 minutes and let stand for a few more minutes to allow time for the water to absorb. Next fluff the couscous with a fork and mix in the cilantro and slivered almonds.

Turn the heat off on the seitan and add the cilantro.

Put the couscous on a plate or in a bowl and top with the braised seitan. Serve hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 838.89
Calories From Fat (16%)- 132.25

Total Fat - 15.3g
Saturated Fat - 1.94g
Cholesterol - 0.62mg
Sodium - 1600.17mg
Potassium - 759.63mg
Total Carbohydrates = 110g
Fiber - 9.87g
Sugar - 11.48g
Protein - 46.6g

Comments:

This dinner was bigger than it needed to be. Next time I would divide this into four servings. The braised seitan has a lovely texture. If you like savory and sweet you will like this dish. It dish is mostly savory, with little bites of sweet from the diced apricots. Even my husband the olive hater admits that the olives are necessary in this recipe. Overall, we were very happy with this recipe.