REPOST by popular (one person counts!) demand.  Sorry about the highlighted “italians,” I feel strongly about them.

Since my wife is vegetarian, I think often how best to vegetarian-itize (that’s a real word) my favorite meat recipes. I don’t eat meat all the time, but there are a few meat dishes I am extremely enthusiastic about (e.g. pulled pork, baby back ribs, fried chicken). One dish I’ve always been partial to is my mom’s slow-cooker italian beef recipe. My goal for this week was to nail a vegetarian spin on the recipe – I did not expect to nail it in two hours on day 1, but I fuckin’ did it, man. I fuckin’ did it. PLEASE NOTE that these measurements are inexact – I winged it, and didn’t measure anything myself. Instead, I’m listing what basically amounts to my Mom’s recipe halved, with notes on what I tweaked.

Crock Pot Vegan Italian ‘Beef’
2 packages Upton’s Naturals Italian-Sausage Style Seitan
2.5 cups water
4 tbsp olive oil (NOTE: Italian beef is a juicy, fatty food, and seitan plus water would come out wrong in terms of mouthfeel. The olive oil covered for that perfectly)
1/2 jar pepperocini (I used Vienna Beef sport peppers, because I refused to leave the house for ingredients. The amount I used may have been a little too hot. I was fine with the heat, Andrea seemed a bit overwhelmed. If you don’t have peppers, you can use red pepper flakes to add heat instead)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp dehydrated onion
A few pinches of oregano (You can use italian seasoning, or better yet, Giada’s Tuscan Herb Mix, which has red pepper flakes that will enhance the heat)

Honestly, I think this is everything that I used. If you want to save time, you can skip all seasonings except the garlic and sub in a packet of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix. I just didn’t have any, so I improvised (using seasonings from this facsimile recipe) instead.

I put in the seasoning, added the water and oil, dropped the two packages of Upton’s, set the Crock Pot for four hours, and it was done. To serve, dip your bun (French/Italian rolls are ideal, but you can use hot dog or hamburger buns in a pinch) in the liquid, then pile seitan and peppers onto the bun, and then eat it, because it’s going to be delicious.

To do a pro Portillo’s move, add in a veggie italian sausage to make a beef/sausage combo.