Vegan day 43: Polenta Casserole with Seitan

Sunday is a great day for cooking and relaxing! Today I thought I would try something more advanced- finally I am digging into my vegan cookbooks. This one is from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, from the “superhero” section!


This is how Alicia describes the SUPERHERO diet:
“The Superhero plan is loosely based on the macrobiotic diet, which takes its principles form the diets of traditional cultures throughout the world- essentially fresh whole foods, grown locally and in season. In creating the Superhero plan, I have taken lots of what I love about macrobiotics- its amazing foods and its spirit of balance- and laid it gently atop my vegan foundation. Although the macrobiotic diet is not always 100 percent vegan (fish is an occasional food for some people), following it without any animal food works very well for me and many, many others.” (Silverstone 2009)


I have been wanting to make this meal for quite some time- so happy to do so today! 

Polenta Casserole with Seitan

Casserole dish with seitan, corn and asparagus layered

1 1/2 cups polenta
1 head of cauliflower cut into large pieces
1 cup peas
1 cup of corn
6 asparagus spears cut into 1″ pieces
1 (8oz) package of seitan
1/3 cup soy milk
1 1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame tahini
1 1/2 tablespoon shoyu
2 teaspoons umeboshi vinegar
1/4 cup chopped parsley
tiny bit of sea salt

Polenta mash with cauliflower and peas

First cook the polenta, 5 cups of water and the cauliflower for about 30 minutes- watch and stir the polenta frequently. Alicia says to use an 8×8 baking dish but I suggest a slightly larger one. I used some coconut oil to lightly oil the dish. Then I layered in the seitan first followed by the corn and asparagus. When the polenta is finished, add the peas, tahini, soy milk, shoyu and vinegar- mash it up by hand! Pour the mash on top of whats already in the casserole and put in the oven for about 40 minutes!

The final product!

I am officially on my way to learning how to cook!
Truth be told I messed up! I bought tempeh thinking it was seitan- oh how I get my proteins confused lol! Furthermore, since I had extra vegetables and mash, I layered in some tofu that I had- creating a separate baking dish since the 8×8 one was already full. So I’m guessing it works with those three for sure. Now I am left craving seitan- great!