Super-Fast! Super-Easy! Better than Bourdain!

This isn't the most photogenic seitan steak that I've ever made, but it had the best grill marks of the bunch, so I went with it. That said, this is The Weeknight Meal you've been waiting for. No kidding. It's brilliantly easy and one of those things that I wish I'd come up with instead of Bourdain. All you have to do is marinate your seitan the night before, and this can be on the table in 15 minutes. I made it with some homemade chicken seitan, but I'm sure tofu or tempeh would work, or even portabellas if you don't marinate them too long. Not that I know anything about doing that.

Update June 9, 2008: If you decide to make this recipe, check out this post for alternate cooking directions, especially if you are short on time.

Grilled Seitan Steaks

4 chicken seitan steaks (or other steak-able)
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of thyme
1 Tbsp olive oil (Bourdain used 6 Tbsp! What a greaser!)
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup broth
1 small onion, chopped finely
4 sprigs flat parsley, chopped finely
salt and pepper

Combine the garlic, herbs, olive oil, broth and white wine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Marinate seitan in this mixture overnight in the refrigerator. Turn them over when you think about it.

Combine the chopped onion and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Grill steaks, top with a spoonful of the onion/parsley mixture which is apparently called "persillade." Serve. It's that simple.

Back to that mushroom story. We have some friends who own an Italian restaurant. They happened to invite us to their home for dinner. They brought out course after course of mind-meltingly delicious food. The main dish was a portabella marinaded in port wine. Sounds easy, right? So I tried it at home. I love marinading stuff, so threw the mushrooms in the port at the beginning of the day. By dinner time, they were soaked with wine, made our mouths tingle from the alcoholic and were pretty much inedible. Since then, we've learned to really enjoy drinking wine but if I'm marinading in wine, I make sure that I do it in moderation. My mushroom story is probably mild compared to a lot of mushroom stories. And that's a good thing!

Don't forget to keep an eye on Hezbollah Tofu!