Albanian Stewed Green Beans and Potatoes With Smokey Seitan

Submitted by Sharon123

"In the heart of the Mediterranean, on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, Albania is fast becoming one of the world's most interesting getaways. Still relatively unspoiled by globalization, an inspiring mixture of civilizations and cultures - making this European country truly unique. This Stewed Green Bean recipe is a great flavorful way to use green beans! The recipe makes enough for two hungry people, so if you have more people at home double the recipe. The recipe uses three tablespoons of olive oil so if you want to make this lower fat feel free to reduce some of the oil. You can replace the seitan with storebought "beef" or "chicken" chunks, or even veggie crumbles. Taken directly from the Vegan Foodie."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 40mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups seitan, cut into bite size pieces (can use beef or chicken style chunks from Morningstar or other brand)
• 2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 small red potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 3 -4 garlic cloves
• 1 medium tomatoes, diced (or one half of a large tomato)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 pinch chili flakes (optional)
• 2 cups vegetable broth (or water, you may need to add more liquid)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 - 2 teaspoons liquid smoke (may need to use more to get the right flavor, so adjust to your taste)
• smoked salt, to taste (Optional, if you donà t have smoked salt use regular salt)

directions

1. Heat a medium pot over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When hot enough, add the seitan and saute until golden on all sides about 4-5 minutes. Towards the end at the liquid smoke and Smoked Salt. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. Now add about 2-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil to the pot. Add the onions and saute for a good 8 minutes until they are translucent and tender. If your pot has burned pieces from the seitan, deglaze it with a bit of vegetable broth. Add the garlic and saute for a minute until fragrant. Now it’s time to add the green beans and potatoes. Saute the green beans and potatoes for about 5 minutes.
3. Now add the tomato, paprika, oregano, chili flakes and season with salt and pepper. Saute for another two minutes. Add the vegetable broth or water and bring to a boil and then to a simmer. After a couple of minutes add the seitan that you have set aside. Simmer the stew for about 45-50 minutes until the green beans and potatoes are tender. If the stew starts to get dry simply add some more broth. Re-season with salt and pepper to taste if necessary. Remember to not go heavy on the salt because the Smokey Seitan is salt already from the smoked salt. Let the stew sit for 15 minutes or you can eat it has soon has it finished cooking.
4. I like to serve these stewed green beans with some rice, bread, and a side salad or vegetable.

Reviews

[Linky]

This was such a yummy dish! I used 2 potatoes rather than cooking rice in addition to the stew. The smokey flavor was a real plus. I did "cheat" - I had a leftover grilled (pork) burger and cut that up instead of using seitan. I realize that the seitan is probably the signature ingredient in this recipe, but not available in my small town, so... Don't they say that necessity is the mother of invention? made for Food Odyssey