General Chlo's Seitan/Tofu/TVP (GF)

Hang on -- before we start, I want to say two things.  Normally this would be served over rice and not spaghetti, but I promised Beetroot (who thought I said 'pumpkin tree' when I really said 'blog entry') he could have whatever he wanted for lunch if he let me cut his hair and he wanted spaghetti.  And, yes, spaghetti and seitan aren't gluten-free, but if you make this with tofu or those giant TVP chunks and serve it over rice, then it is GF.  And a really zany grain-free twist on this dish could involve something like cauliflower or mushrooms instead of seitan/tofu served on zucchini noodles.  (Also, have you seen cauliflower 'rice'?  Do an internet search on it, it's a nifty idea!)

Okay, I know you are all salivating, so I'll cut to the chase.  And by the chase, I mean the sauce.  General Chlo's sauce.  Which is delicious.  You don't just have to use it for this!  Let's go over the ingredients first:

• garlic (finely chopped)
• chili (fresh & finely chopped (I used a red finger chili) or dry flakes)
• ginger (fresh and finely chopped or dry powdered) OR Chinese 5-spice (or both)
• toasted sesame oil
• soy sauce (use tamari if GF)
• sushi vinegar OR [rice vinegar & a pinch of sugar (or agave nectar or whatever)]
• tomato paste
• cornstarch (or a similar thickener)
• stock (or water)

Just pretend the spaghetti is rice, okay?

Fry the garlic, chili, and ginger in the toasted sesame oil until fragrant.  Stir in your soy sauce, vinegar, and tomato paste.  Then you'll want to add the cornstarch and stock.  If you're like me, you'll just shake the cornstarch over everything and hope it dissolves when you stir it up, but you could also dissolve the cornstarch into the stock before adding it. 

I'll assume you know how to make rice and steam broccoli.  I'll also assume you know how to make or procure seitan* or where to find tofu or those big TVP chunks.  For the seitan, you can just stir it into the sauce, but you will need to rehydrate the TVP (soak in warm water or stock for a few minutes) before throwing it into the sauce and you should pan-fry the tofu a little before throwing it in.

Dish up some rice, put some General Chlo's on top.  Arrange the broccoli nicely around the outside of the rice & Chlo's, and top with a little chopped green onion.

Any questions?  :D

 *  And if you don't, would you like a blog post detailing my adventures in making seitan?