Crispy seitan with the spice of jalapeños, the tang of onion, and a rich, tangy dressing of tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and spices. Seitan, Onion, Jalapeño Salad with Tahini Dressing is sure to become a regular on your lunch menu!
Seitan is one of my favorite foods in the world. It has such a chewy texture, I feel like I am eating something with some heft. It is also pure protein, something that vegans are always being asked where they get it from. It is a silly question, so many plants have so much protein in them, but we can save that discussion for another time.
One of my favorite dishes used to be what we called Crispy Seitan with Leeks.I would take the seitan and crisp it up in a cast iron skillet until it was crunch, and add leeks. That's it, just leeks and crispy, crunchy goodness. Unfortunately I started making it less and less because I was unable to find seitan in the store in the quantities I wanted and without any seasonings I didn't want. There was this great "chicken-style" seitan I used to buy in 1 pound containers, but now no stores sell it.
Eventually I looked up recipes and started making it myself. Different recipes take up different amounts of time and effort. The one I use for this recipe is super easy. It is chickwheat, a seitan made from both gluten (we'll talk about that word in a bit) and chickpeas. The recipe I use is even more amazing as it uses tahini instead of oil, giving it a richer taste, and, to make it even better, it is made in an Instant Pot, so you can go do something else while it cooks! You can find the the recipe over at Sideways Cottage. You should try the Butter Chic'kn recipe found there, it is magnificent. I always make a double recipe.
In this salad, the seitan is browned, mixed with jalapeños, red onion, and scallions, and mixed with a rich, tangy dressing of tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and spices. It is one of the best lunches we have had in a long time!
We have eaten this by itself, in a wrap, or as a topping on salad.
Ingredients
- Seitan, I use Chickwheat.
- Jalapeños, optional, but really good
- Red onion
- Scallions
- Tahini
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Aleppo Pepper, optional, but really good
- Smoked Paprika, optional, but really good
See recipe card for amounts.
Try using Tahini Paste when making your sauce!
Get some other ideas on customizing your sauce at Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce.
Instructions
Place the lemon juice and tahini into a container for mixing.
Mix the lemon juice and tahini until smooth. The mixture may start out thin and gradually thicken. Don't worry if it thickens too much, you will thin it later.
Add the garlic and spices, if using, to the dressing.
Stir the dressing until mixed.
Add water to the dressing and mix until desired consistency.
Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot. Add oil. When oil is shimmering, add shredded seitan.
Let the seitan sit for 5 minutes without stirring, or until the seitan is brown and crispy. Once browned, turn over and do the same on the other side for 5 minutes. You can also stir constantly for 5-10 minutes, but it won't crisp as well.
Add the chopped jalapeños to the skillet.
Stir and cook until the jalapeños are soft, about 5 minutes.
Place the seitan and jalapenoes in a bowl and add the onions.
Mix the onions into the seitan.
Add the dressing.
Mix the contents of the bowl.
Enjoy by itself, or in a wrap, or as a topping on salad.
Variations
Replace the onions and jalapeños with celery and Italian Parsley.
Storage
Seitan, Onion, Jalapeno Salad with Tahini Dressing will last up to 6 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Related
Looking for other lunch ideas? Try these:
What About Gluten?
I know I will be walking into a bit of a minefield here, but here it goes. A question I get asked a lot is whether gluten is healthy or not. Some people think it is amazing, others think it is the cause of so many nutritional ills. The truth of the matter is that, for the vast majority of people, it is completely healthy. It is not healthy for people who are coeliac, an autoimmune condition where the gluten attacks the lining of the small intestine and can be life threatening. About 1% of people are coeliac. A percentage of the population, between .5% and 6% (likely at the lower end) are gluten sensitive, where it can cause bloating. But for the vast majority of people it is completely safe and the nutrients and fiber in whole grains containing gluten are important for a healthy diet. There are so many misconceptions in nutrition, it is easy to get lost in a sea of misinformation, either given intentionally or not intentionally. I found an excellent writeup on gluten that talks about facts and misconceptions about gluten. Dr. Greger, a very reputable source of nutrition information, has several excellent articles on gluten, including this one over at Nutrition Facts that avoiding gluten if you have not been diagnosed with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity may actually be harmful. You can find some other good nutrition sites over in the Website Nutrition Resources.
Recipe
Seitan, Onion, Jalapeno Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Aleppo Pepper optional
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika optional
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped or crushed
- 1 pound seitan chickwheat, torn into shreds
- 4 medium jalapeños seeded and chopped
- 1 medium red onion diced, you can use half the amount, we like onion
- 6 scallions chopped, both white and green parts
Instructions
- Mix the tahini and lemon juice. Stir. It will start out thin but quickly thicken up. Add the ¼ cup water and mix. If not at the desired consistency, add more water in small amounts until the desired consistency. I find ¼ cup of water gets it to the consistency I like.
- Add the garlic, and, if using, the spices to the sauce. Set aside.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add a thin layer of oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Shred the seitan into small, bite sized pieces.
- When the oil is shimmering, add the seitan. Spread evenly over the bottom of the pan and let sit for 5 minutes without stirring, or until the seitan is brown and crispy. Once browned, turn over and do the same on the other side. You can also stir constantly for 10 minutes, but it won't crisp as well.
- When the seitan is done, add the jalapeños to the pan. Cook until the jalapeños are softened, stirring periodically, about 5 minutes.
- When the jalapeños are done, remove from heat and place in a glass bowl. Add in the red onion, scallions, and the dressing and mix.
- Enjoy by itself, or in a wrap, or as a topping on salad.
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