Recipe Name: “Beef” and Broccoli Bowls
Source of Recipe: The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions
Recipe Creator: Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman
An important note: The seitan that I used for this recipe came from Robin Robertson’s “Vegan on the Cheap,” which I reviewed here. I judged this recipe separately from that one, so the ease of finding the ingredients and the cheapness of ingredients do not include the seitan, which makes up the “beef” part of this recipe.
Ease of Finding Ingredients: 4
Cheapness of Ingredients: 4
Ease of Following Recipe: 4
Opinion Results: 5
Overall Score: 17/20
This was my first recipe using seitan, and I absolutely loved it! One large serving is about 615 calories, and it is extremely filling. The sauce was extremely easy to make. You just dump all the ingredients together in a saucepan and whisk until it’s hot and thick. Then you mix it with the seitan and pour over rice and broccoli. Definitely delicious! And most of the ingredients can be found right at the grocery store (including store-bought seitan, though it’s pricy at the store).
Substitutions:
I used agave nectar instead of brown rice syrup. I actually saw brown rice syrup at the farmer’s market right next to the agave nectar, but it was more expensive, and I didn’t think it would make a difference. I’m not sure if the sauce would have been more delicious with the brown rice syrup instead, but I can definitely say that I thought it was delicious as it was, so I’m not sorry I made the substitution. You could probably also use cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder, but don’t hold me to that. I just know that both of those ingredients are used to thicken things, so I would think it wouldn’t make a difference. For what it’s worth, I’m very new to vegan baking, so I wouldn’t really take my word on it. 🙂
I absolutely loved this, and I don’t like tofu or tempeh. So if you’re thinking of trying something vegan but don’t like soy, this would be a good recipe to try. My mother usually hates the vegan stuff that I make, and she really enjoyed this. My sister is much more skeptical of my cooking, and she hated it. She also only tried one piece and had already convinced herself that it was going to be horrible, though, so I’m not sure how much credit I would give her opinion.
I highly recommend this recipe.
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