I’d love to start start sharing some dishes on here as cooking (and eating) is something I enjoy dearly, especially since I went vegan six months ago.

I love making seitan because it has a texture I really enjoy and it’s rich in protein, which helps me feel full for a long time.

The recipe: I make my seitan from scratch by mixing 200g of wheat gluten with a tablespoon of some flour (chickpea, corn or whole-wheat works fine) a pinch of baking soda and more spices than one might think they need (salt, pepper, chili, garlic powder, paprika, curcuma, whatever I have on hand). I slowly add cold water while mixing the dough until it comes together. It should be a rubbery, stiff ball. I rest it for about ten minutes, while I boil some water or vegetable stock with some bay leaves or garlic, you get the idea. First, I boil this ball of dough for fifteen minutes, then I remove it from the water and cut it into slices which then go back into the boiling water for another fifteen minutes. After this, I remove them from the water and using a colander, I drain them (I often push the water out with a spoon or fork) then leave them to cool. You can use them right away or freeze them for later, too. Seitan makes a delicious steak or stew and you can even ground it!

This time, I marinated the seitan slices in a mixture of red pesto (Tesco’s Free From is vegan!) and soy sauce, then fried them using some olive oil.

As a side, I made some roast potatoes and sweet potatoes by cutting them into big pieces and coating them in some olive oil, salt and rosemary. I also cut up some cauliflower and added the leftover marinade from the seitan to it. I baked them in the oven and halfway through I added some chopped up onions and red peppers. I also love cutting a whole head of garlic in half and putting it in the oven too. You can sorta squeeze it out of the shells and it’s so creamy!