Vegetarian “Chicken” & Noodles

This blog title might seem a little weird.  But I made a vegetarian version of a recipe from my childhood – chicken and noodles.  I just can’t call it seitan and noodles.  Doesn’t seem right.

Anyway this is the dish that went along with my homemade mashed potatoes.  I meant to post this yesterday but work started kicking my butt late this week.  I’ll be working tomorrow (boo) so I thought I better get this posted tonight.

Chicken and noodles is another one of my comfort foods.  It was one of my favorite dishes that Movie Mom made when I was growing up.  I don’t have it as much now as an adult and especially since giving up chicken.  I’ve been thinking about making a vegetarian version for a really long time now.

Chicken and noodles is a funny dish because I’ll bet every family makes a slightly different version.  I never knew this or really thought about it until I met Benzo.  I just always thought Movie Mom’s recipe was the universal recipe.  Movie Mom makes chicken and noodles with egg noodles and serves it over mashed potatoes.  Imagine my surprise when I show up to MIL’s house and find that she makes it with the frozen, thick egg noodles and serves it with cottage cheese and peas.  And NO mashed potatoes! 

So this is a vegetarian version of the way Movie Mom makes it.  And if your mom makes it different then hopefully it will inspire you to vegetarian-ize your mom’s recipe.

Vegetarian “Chicken” & Noodles
Serves 4

1 8oz pkg seitan
4-5 cups water
4-5 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken Base
1/2 bag of egg noodles (I think it was 6oz or so)
4 servings of mashed potatoes

In a pot bring water to a boil.  Add bouillon and stir until dissolved.  Add noodles.  Reduce heat slightly to a low boil and cook until noodles are done, about 7-10 minutes.  Do not drain noodles!  In the meantime, make mashed potatoes.

Remove seitain from package and shred to desired consistency.  Add seitan to noodles in broth.  Continue to simmer for several minutes until the seitan is warmed or until you are finished with the mashed potatoes.

In a wide bowl or a plate that has a nice well, place a serving of mashed potatoes in the middle.  Then ladle the “chicken” and noodles on top, making sure to get a little bit of the broth on there (the reason for the bowl or a non-flat plate).  And that is it my friends.  Enjoy the comforting goodness.  Here is my plate with some pepper on top:

Here’s Benzo’s plate.  He was willing to include the mashed potatoes, but made me warm up some peas for him:

The verdict?  AWESOMENESS.  I can’t wait to make it again.  It satisfied my craving and left me feeling all warm and cuddly inside.

If you have never cooked with seitan before I do recommend it, unless you have a gluten intolerance.  Seitan is the “meat of wheat”, meaning it’s made out of wheat gluten.  I have used it to make seitan piccata, which I also enjoyed very much.  It has a good texture, which is important to me.  I don’t like foods with weird textures and sometimes tofu and soy products can get that way.  For this recipe I used one box of West Soy Seitan Strips.

Also important to this recipe is the Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base, or another no-chicken bouillon product.  Ever since I used this stuff to make Un-Chicken Noodle Soup, I can’t get enough of it!  I have been making a poor-man’s version of that chicken soup constantly.  I suppose you could try to make this with vegetable broth, but I don’t think it would be the same.

Well I’m off to get some rest before I have to work again tomorrow.  Boo!   If you feel so inclined feel free to share your version of chicken and noodles in the comments.