Meat substitutes for comfort food
Hi - I am craving the warm and hearty flavors of beef stew but I am trying to cook with less meat, can I use seitan or tempeh (or other meat substitute) and create the same deep flavors? How would I need to adjust the other ingredients or cooking time for it to be successful? Thank you!
Comments
Hi Rachael - The short answer is - no. Much of the flavor in these long-cooked dishes comes from the meat itself, which is extracted over the hours of cooking time. Since seitan and tempeh neither have the depth of flavor of meat nor can be cooked for hours you would not be able to develop the same flavor. What I would suggest instead are some really flavorful stews that rely more on the additional flavors than the protein. Here are some of our recipes that I think you could add vegetarian protein to - Peruvian Quinoa Stew and Indian Spiced Kidney Bean Stew. I would also recommend any stew with a lot of chiles (a New Mexican chile stew, for examples), mushrooms (for umami), or bold spices (a paprikash). I would probably coat the tempeh or seitan with spices and some cornstarch and brown it in the pan first, remove, and then add it back in at the very end for 5-10 minutes so you can simmer the rest of the ingredients and build flavor without the protein breaking down. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Dear Lynn, Would you say the same about using either Impossible or Beyond beef substitutes instead of the Tofu type meat substitutes?
Hi Larry - As of now the only Impossible/Beyond products are ground or sausages so those types of meat wouldn't necessarily be in a stew. However, for a chili or casserole that's only going to cook for 30 minutes to an hour, I think you can brown the meat substitute and then leave it in the pot to continue to cook. It should stay intact. Best, Lynn