homemade vegan lunch "meat"

[atreyuas]

I think I've found a great alternative to that expensive mock lunchmeat! (I mean really, do they HAVE to charge $4.00 for three lousy servings?) I found this on VeganDad.com and fell in love! I made it with rosemary instead of fennel, and cajon spice instead of paprika, so it ended up being a tad salty, but it was still really tasty and the texture was great. I'd say you can tailor the spices any way you want, but make sure you wrap it well on all sides (like a tight burrito) with the foil, especially when baking, so it won't get really dry on the ends. You might even consider baking it for 45 minutes instead of the full hour to keep it from drying out. I don't mind it being a tad dry, but everyone has their own taste.

Vegan Lunch "Meat"

INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup white beans
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1/4 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp ground fennel
- 1 tsp sage
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten

METHOD
Get water steaming in your steamer.
1. Place all ingredients except the gluten flour in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Add gluten flour and work into a dough.
2. Shape dough into a log and wrap in heavy duty foil like a tootsie roll. Try to make the roll as thick as possible. Steam for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees in the last 15 mins of steaming. Remove seitan from steamer and bake for 45-60 mins. Seitan should swell and press against the foil.
4. Cool and slice as needed for sandwiches. This seitan holds up very well and can be shaved very thin. Store in the fridge