Wheat “Meat”

My friend and chef, Steve, was kind enough to share this recipe with me and let me share it on my blog here! Thanks Steve! I made some very slight adjustments to the recipe he gave me as he works at ION Restaurant (in Middletown, CT, USA) and designed his recipe to serve the masses!

For this recipe, you need:

• KitchenAid mixer or something similar with a dough hook (you can also combine by hand in a bowl and knead it if you don’t have a dough hook with a mixer)
• medium to large saucepan
• cooking tongs or skimmer
• rolling pin (I used a cup or my hands before I had a rolling pin, you can improvise!)
• parchment paper or dough mat

This recipe is protein rich (20g of protein per 50g wheat “meat” serving, 7g carbs and 6g fat). The first way I made it was as chik’n parm! You could also marinade with vegan BBQ sauce (most are vegan if they don’t have honey) and grill it up! I will expand on directions for prepping the Wheat “Meat” in future posts. I posted the finished product because it’s not very pretty before it’s prepped.

Meal Prep Tips: Freeze unused cutlets either individually or separated into meal-sized portions for the meals you intend to use them for. (The cutlets freeze together and are nearly impossible to separate without breaking or defrosting and you want to avoid refreezing after thawing.) Cool the cutlets you intend to freeze on a baker’s rack or something similar so they cool completely and don’t carry extra moisture/broth. You can package the cutlets individually or in a large freezer safe Tupperware separated by parchment paper. 

High Protein Meal Prep Tips: Double the recipe if you can so you get more out of your time spent on this recipe. Also, consider increasing your portion size to 75g cutlets and the protein becomes 28g per serving (10g carbs and 10g fat). Use a scale to measure your serving size, especially if you track your protein intake.

Prep time: 30-45 minutes; Cook time: 45 minutes

Dough Ingredients:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 2/3 cup vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp sesame tahini or smooth peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt

Broth Ingredients:

• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Directions:

1. Combine dough ingredients in the bowl of the mixer.
2. Mix on speed 2 with dough hook attachment for about 5 minutes or until dough has formed into a ball. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. If you don’t have a mixer, knead by hand until all the dough is mixed thoroughly. A wooden spoon may be useful for this as well. Don’t over knead the dough or it’s harder for the “cutlets” to stay in shape when you’re forming and cooking!
3. Once the dough is well mixed, shape into smaller pieces.
4. On a dough mat or parchment paper, roll the pieces out to about 1/2 – 1 inch thickness.
5. Put water on the stove in the pot on high. Add broth ingredients to the water. Bring water to a boil.
6. Place the “meat” pieces into the boiling water using the tongs or skimmer. Boil for at least 40-45 minutes. The “meat” will start to flake apart slightly. You can tell if it’s cooked all the way by cutting into it. The middle section looks thicker/ there’s no texture or air bubbles, if it’s not fully cooked. The texture should be consistent throughout.
7. Remove the “meat” pieces from the water.
8. Allow them to cool slightly and prep as desired.

Enjoy!