Last night I made Braised Seitan with Brussels, Kale, and Sundried Tomatoes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Veganomicon. We had it over whole-wheat penne (can you tell we love pasta in this house? 
). I use canned mock duck from the Asian grocery store; seitan is relatively cheap to make, but I've never gotten the hang of it. I try now and again, but mock duck is such a handy (if slightly pricy) replacement. Both are just made with wheat gluten, flour, water, soy sauce and flavoring, and mock duck is also fried.
This is such a strange recipe. We've had it before so I knew it would be good, but I was struck all over again how incongruous the ingredients seem. Brussels sprouts and sundried tomatoes? It just seems like some random stuff thrown together, but when you taste it, you realize it all works. Mellow, comforting, hearty, slightly sweet but savory, lots of nice textures going on: It's just a great winter treat. Once you assemble the ingredients and get the pasta water boiling, cook time is only about 15 minutes.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and this recipe makes a TON! When you mix it with a whole package of penne, we had three hearty servings plus four moderate-sized leftover portions. That bowl in the photo? I was only able to eat about half of it.
365 days of dinner: Jan. 8, 2009
January 9th, 2009 at 04:32 pm
January 9th, 2009 at 04:41 pm 1231519285
January 9th, 2009 at 06:20 pm 1231525215
January 9th, 2009 at 06:37 pm 1231526274
January 13th, 2009 at 10:24 pm 1231885457
16 blanched asparagus spears, quartered
juice of a small lemon and grated zest
very finely chopped small chilli
1 cup grated parmesan
375g packet cooked pasta (spaghettini works best)
1 crushed clove garlic
120g rocket, shredded
50ml virgin olive oil
cook the pasta, and while still hot, combine with all other ingredients in a bowl and mix well. serve with an extra sprinkle of parmesan.