SERVES: 2 TO 3
TIME: 45 MINUTES, NOT INCLUDING STEAMING THE SEITAN
Grilled seitan strips all dressed up with a juicy ginger dressing, then piled high on cool cucumber ribbons, chewy goji berries, and carrot matchsticks. Clean Asian-inspired flavors will bring you back again and again to this simple entrée salad.
MARINADE/DRESSING
½ cup pure coconut water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon canola oil or avocado seed oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
GRILLED SEITAN AND CUCUMBER SALAD
2 Steamed or Baked Seitan Cutlets (page 50), or 8 ounces store-bought seitan
⅓ cup dried goji berries
1 English cucumber
1 large carrot
4 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced on a diagonal
2 cups thinly shredded napa cabbage
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
1 Whisk the marinade/dressing ingredients together.
2 Prepare the seitan and slice it on a diagonal into ½-inch strips. In a mixing bowl, toss together the seitan strips and ¼ cup of dressing; set aside to marinate for 10 minutes. Stir the goji berries into the remaining dressing, cover, and chill until ready to serve.
3 Meanwhile, peel the cucumber and use a Y-shaped vegetable peeler to shred it into long ribbons. Peel the carrot and use the Y-shaped peeler again to slice it into ribbons. Combine the cucumber, carrot, scallions, and shredded cabbage in a mixing bowl. Cover and chill the vegetables until ready to serve.
4 Preheat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat and brush or spray with a high-heat cooking oil (such as peanut oil). Grill the seitan strips in a single layer, cooking about 1 minute on each side for dark grill marks. Brush with marinade if the seitan starts to stick.
5 Arrange the salad vegetables in high piles on each serving plate. Pile hot seitan strips on top and spoon on dressing with goji berries. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve hot, passing around any remaining dressing.