Philly Cheez Steak Sandwiches

Cooking with friends is one of the greatest joys of my life. It’s a great way to be involved in what you end up eating. Everyone contributes and makes suggestions and has a good time. It turns a simple meal into a whole evening event. That’s why these Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches are SO good. They are kind of complicated, but the end result is SO WORTH IT! There are 4 basic components: The bread, the seitan, the veggies, and the cheez sauce. Here we go!

Bread

You can basically use whatever kind of bread you want. I recommend some sort of sandwich bun type situation. I was lucky enough in this meal to have bread made by my good friend.

Seitan

I like making seitan from scratch. It’s so much cheaper than buying prepackaged.

• 1.5 cup vital wheat gluten
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 t salt
• 2 t. paprika
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. cumin
• 1-2 t. pepper
• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper
• 3/4 c. veggie broth
• 4 T. tomato paste
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 cups veggie/”not beef” broth

Mix everything together in a bowl. Once it’s pretty well mixed, start kneading it. When I made it, I did not add any more flour. It was kind of sticky, but it stayed in a ball pretty well and I wanted to make sure it didn’t get too chewy. Once you have kneaded it for about 5 minutes, roll it out so it is about an inch thick. Cut it into pretty thin slices (something like ¼ inch thick and 2 inches long). Remember- you are trying to mimic Philly cheese steaks, which have really thin pieces of steak. The seitan will also expand a little when you cook it. It’s kind of time consuming to slice it so thinly, but it makes it so much better. After it has all been sliced, boil it in the 4 cups veggie/ “not beef” broth for 35-40 minutes. I made this the night before and let it marinate in some vegan Worcestershire sauce overnight.

Veggies

Just sauté up some onions, green peppers, and mushrooms in some olive oil with a little bit of garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Cheez sauce

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegan margarine
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a sauce pan. Add the water and stir until everything is mixed. Add the margarine and heat until it is as thick as you want.

Once all the components are done, put the seitan and veggies on your bread, cover in sauce and try not to cry at the deliciousness.