Sweet and Spicy Seitan (with millet)

There are many meat substitutes on the market today. Meatballs, deli slices, "chicken" strips, and many other items are readily available at a store right down the street from me. Of course, in buying one of these, I am inadvertantly supporting corporate giants, genetically modified organisms, factory farming, and other less than illustrious institutions. Strangely enough, some of these meat substitutes still contain egg and dairy (scratches head).

I once thought becoming vegan would add hours to my grocery store time, as I would have to read ingredients lists in depth. Here's a tip for those of you who think the same -- buy your ingredients fresh and don't screw around with that premade stuff. It's cheaper and better for you.

A common food item in veganism, adopted from, Asian cultures, is seitan. Seitan is basically wheat gluten (the binding agent in flour), flavor, and water. It is allowed to sit, like a yeast bread, cooked in a boiling broth, then cooled and grilled on a skillet to form a "meaty" texture. It is a great substitute for meat, as you can flavor it to your liking, using any spices you like. You can also find some premade seitan at many health food, Asian, or vegetarian stores. I recently tried making my own, using a "chicken" style recipe. Going along with the Asian theme, I borrowed an idea from a Chinese restaurant menu and made my own "General Tso's" sauce. Instead of fried rice, I used a healthier version -- bolied millet with green onion.

Ingredients:
1 cup seitan (a few pieces)
1/4 cup millet
1/2 cup green onions
2 teaspoons chili pepper
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons rice flour















Like most all grains, millet increases in size when it is cooked. You need about 4 times as much water as millet. Bring the water to a boil and then add the millet. Stir occassionally so it doesn't burn and crust the pot. It should take about 30 minutes to cook, during which time you can do the other steps.















Remove the ends of the green onions and discard. Then dice them.















In a medium pan, heat up the pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce over medium heat.















Add the chili pepper and gently stir for a bout a minute more. The idea is to distribute the flavor uniformly, so your mouth doesn't flame up when you get a bite of the pepper.















Add the rice flour and stir until it's dissolved completely. If there is any caking, turn the heat down and keep stirring. You really don't want to burn anything at this point or it won't taste as good.















Add the seitan and begin to coat the pieces with sauce.















Keep the seitan in the pan until the pieces are covered with sauce and heated completely.















By now, the millet should be done. Add the green onions and some salt if you like.















I think the different tastes here go good with iced tea, and the millet is a good way to even out the spicy sauce.















Variations:
You can use rice instead of millet. If you have an aversion to spicy food, feel free to cut the chili pepper out completely. If you add a tablespoon or two of cider vinegar to the sauce, before the rice flour, you will have a pretty good sweet and sour sauce.