Zucchini Gondolas with Seitan and Peppermint Couscous
Course: Main DishCuisine: Mediterranean, VeganDifficulty: Medium4
servings1
hour30
minutes30
minutesTip: I recommend you to macerate your Seitan in the morning or even the night before you want to cook this dish. This way, your preparation and cooking time will come down to only 1 hour. If you don´t have ginger-garlic paste at hand, simply crush 1 cm ginger and 1 garlic clove and add it to the tamari sauce.
Ingredients
4 large Zucchini
250g chopped smoked seitan
1 large onion chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
0.5 bunch fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
0.5 bunch of chopped fresh mint
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence mix
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
Plain, natural yoghurt
Couscous ingredients:150g couscous
1 tsp dried peppermint flakes
1 tbsp native olive oil
Salt to taste
Seasoning to marinate the Seitan (at least 1 hour):1 tbsp low sodium Tamari sauce
1 tsp water
1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
Directions
- Cut the seitan into small pieces and macerate it in the dressing for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC
- Mix the couscous with the dried mint, salt and olive oil and add hot water as indicated. Reserve to cool.
- Cut the onion, crush the garlic and heat the olive oil in a pan. Sauté onion and garlic over low heat until tender.
- Meanwhile, cut the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the pulp with a small spoon; leave 0.5 cm of skin. Cut the zucchini flesh into small pieces and add them to the pan.
- Add the tomato paste, chopped parsley, mint and all the dry spices.
- Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Cut the marinated seitan into small pieces and add it to the mixture. Let stand for another 5 minutes.
- Now fill the empty zucchini skins with the mixture and place the zucchini gondolas in a baking pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the skin is tender and the mixture is golden brown on top.
- Serve with peppermint couscous and a spoonful of plain yoghurt.
Notes
- ZUCCHINI contains a variety of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds. Cooked zucchini is particularly high in vitamin A, though raw zucchini contains slightly less. Zucchini is also rich in antioxidants. Its fiber may increase insulin sensitivity and stabilize blood sugar levels, potentially reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes. The fiber, potassium, and carotenoids in courgette may lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and other risk factors for heart disease.
- SEITAN is a plant-based meat substitute made out of wheat gluten. It is made by rinsing prepared wheat dough to remove the starch, leaving a sticky mass of protein that can be flavored, cooked, and used in a number of dishes. Seitan is rich in protein and contains all nine essential amino acids. However, it does not contain much lysine, so be sure to incorporate other lysine-rich foods, such as legumes, into your diet. Seitan is made with wheat gluten, so it is a good soy-free meat alternative for people with soy allergies or intolerances. About 180 g of seitan cover the protein requirements of a normal person and only contain 140 Kcal: meat, with the same amount of protein, has twice the calories.
