Skip Jennings & Gwen Keannelly
Seitan and Quinoa Salad
For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing recipes from my upcoming Cookbook with Gwen Kenneally. This week we’ll share our Seitan and Quinoa Salad. Seitan is a popular vegetarian meat substitute and has been consumed in Asian countries for generations. It is derived from the protein portion of whole wheat and you’ll find it stands in nicely in a variety of meat recipes. And seitan has more protein than either tofu or tempeh.
2 cups quinoa
3 cups vegetable stock
Salt to taste
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Pepper to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups cooked seitan, finely chopped (recipe follows)
1 1/2 cups green and red grapes, quartered
Bring quinoa and vegetable stock to a hard rolling boil. Remove from heat and cover, fluffing with a fork every 10 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed and it has cooled down. Whisk vinegar and oil. Add seitan, grapes, pine nuts and quinoa. Toss well and add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4
Grilled Seitan
8-ounce piece of seitan
Poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mix olive oil and poultry seasoning. Add seitan and let marinade for 1 hour. Preheat grill to medium heat. Grill for four to five minutes, until slightly charred. Flip and cook the other side for four to five minutes.
The Practice: Quinoa and seitan are each an independently perfect source of protein. They could happily and effectively stand alone but when combined, they offer an explosion of great taste. It reminds us of the saying, “some things are better done with someone else.” Group practice is the same way. We could do Butterfly Pose at home by ourselves, but it is so much more fun with a group of practitioners holding that pose simultaneously in one accord. If you are a home Yogi, it might be time for you to step out of your box and experience the collective.