Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Potato Salad with Seitan Strips & Tarragon-Mustard Vinaigrette

"Potato Salad with Seitan Strips and Tarragon-Mustard Vinaigrette" (page 71) makes a hearty and filling entrée salad. Cooked potatoes, red onion, and celery are added to browned strips of seitan, and then all is dressed with a delicious vinaigrette. There were a couple of challenges trying to keep this dish oil free, as one tablespoon of olive oil is called for to brown the seitan, and another 1/3 cup used in the dressing. Browning the seitan was easy in my non-stick skillet, so that challenge was quickly overcome. But whenever a recipe calls for as much as 1/3 cup of oil, I know I can't just "leave it out". It really is the main ingredient in this dressing. I decided to substitute the oil with an equal amount of light broth which I thickened with ¼ teaspoon of guar gum (simply mix the guar gum into cooled broth and let sit a few minutes to thicken). I used the other ingredients in the dressing (Dijon, garlic, vinegar, and tarragon) exactly as written. This came out fabulous! This salad was so good, I probably could have eaten the entire recipe by myself, but I went ahead and shared it with my husband. He thanked me for that!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Becky,
    Sounds yummy. When you say "light broth" - what exactly is that? Is that something you make or something you buy?

    Just also want to say thanks for testing these recipes, providing the alterations, and for posting the great pics. I too have been modifying Robin's recipes to be McDougall friendly, and have also been making some with your recommendations. They work out great!

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  2. Hi Pam,
    Thank you for the nice words on the blog, I appreciate that! I'm glad some of my suggestions have been helpful as you, too, make modifications to the recipes. I'd love to hear what you are doing as well!
    What I meant by "light broth" was a diluted broth, as opposed to something very strong flavored. I use a powdered "chick'n" (vegan) flavored broth made by Frontier brands. It's very mild, and for this recipe I used about one teaspoon of broth dissolved in one cup of warm water (but dind't need to use the entire cup, just about 1/3 cup was all). When I am using this broth "full strength" it generally requires about 1 Tablespoon of broth per cup of water. Hope this helps!
    Becky

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