experimenting with seitan

seitan it's a funny word. i always feel like i'm mispronouncing it or trying not to say satan. it's "say tan" or wheat gluten which i've never prepared before.

the occasion was dinner with the nose and his new boyfriend, a vegetarian. having grown accustomed to a protein/mean intensive diet over the past few years, this was going to be a culinary challenge for me. the nose's assurance that his boyfriend was very understanding of us carnivores did not ease my concerns. but, what kind of a host would i be if i didn't make sure that the meal was tasty, filling, and pleasing to every guest?

in the end, i decided on thai food: vegetarian green curry, red curry fried seitan and greenbeans, coconut rice, lemongrass shrimp skewers -for the meat eating contingent- and almond tofu dessert. i was easily able to purchase a package of seitan at an organic/health food store in my neighborhood. i was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to work with! i think i am a convert and will start integrating more seitan into my every day cooking (seitan chili maybe?).

dinner was completely prepared with half an hour to spare before my guests arrived. all the recipes fell into place and the spicy dishes paired well with the white wines that the nose brought. it was one of my most relaxing dinner parties- everyone drank and ate a lot, conversation flowed smoothly, and the time flew by.