Seitan and Crimini Stroganoff over Brown Basmati Rice

I haven’t made stroganoff for about a decade. The beef and sour cream version was a favorite of my family long before I became health conscious. I have one of the early versions of the New York Times Cookbook, which had a fantastic recipe for stroganoff. The version that I used to make from that book included Dijon mustard. While that isn’t a standard stroganoff ingredient it doesn’t seem like stroganoff to me without the Dijon.

This stroganoff flavor is mild and very reminiscent of the original. The lemon juice is used to replicate the acidity of the sour cream. The Worcestershire sauce helps to simulate a meat flavor. The coconut milk and cornstarch thicken the sauce without adding an excessive amount of fat.

Overall we thought this recipe was similar to the beef version we remember but a much healthier version. I love that the dish came in at 9% fat and with 38 grams of protein.

Seitan and Crimini Stroganoff over Brown Basmati Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 servings of Pressure Cooked Seitan Roast
1 red onion, sliced very thin
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking so that allicin will develop completely)
12 ounces of crimini mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup of water, filtered
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
12.3 ounces of low fat silken tofu
½ cup of reduced fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of vegan Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon of fresh dill, minced – for garnish (optional)

1 ½ cups of brown basmati rice
3 cups of water, filtered

Directions:

Spray a heavy bottomed skillet with canola or olive and heat. Cook the onion and garlic until caramelized.

Start the brown rice in the pressure cooker so that it will be ready when the sauce is done.

Clean and slice the mushrooms into approximately ¼ inch slices. Add the mushrooms to the onion pan once the onions have caramelized. Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes so they will brown a little.

Add the water, lemon juice and Dijon mustard to the pan and turn up the heat to so that the liquid simmers.

Meanwhile slice the seitan as thinly as possible using a serrated knife. You want the final seitan to be thin strips, like for Chinese food. Add the seitan to the simmering pan. Cook to heat the seitan completely.

Put the silken tofu, coconut milk, cornstarch in the food processor until the tofu is completely smooth.

When the seitan is completely heated through add the tofu mixture and lower the heat to low. You want the liquid to very gently simmer. Stir to evenly incorporate the tofu into the pan liquid. Add as much Worcestershire as you like. I used approximately a teaspoon of Worcestershire to our dinner.

Taste for salt and pepper and serve over brown basmati rice. Garnish with fresh dill if desired.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 403.16
Calories From Fat (9%) - 34.85

Total Fat - 3.85g
Saturated Fat - 1.47g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 443.66mg
Potassium - 701.03mg
Total Carbohydrates - 53.62g
Fiber - 3g
Sugar - 2.17g
Protein - 38.46g

Comments:

We both thought the texture and mouth feel of the sauce was very close to the original. The flavor of the sauce was definitely “stroganoff like”. It would be difficult to replicate the flavor exactly without the consommé.

According to my husband it was delicious. Since my husband doesn’t normally rave I am going to say this meal is husband approved. I thought it was very good as well. My biggest compliant is that it wasn’t photogenic. I like my food to be pretty, and this has a pretty monotonous appearance. The taste made up for the lack of photogenic appearance.

Update:

This stroganoff reheats beautifully in the microwave. The dairy original doesn't reheat well in the microwave, so I was a little skeptical of how this recipe would reheat. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it reheated. I used 60% power to reheat the leftovers and the sauce consistency remainded perfect and the seitan was tender.