Philadelphia is well known for a number of things: The Liberty Bell, The Art Museum (the front steps anyway!), LOVE Park … And when it comes to food, definitely the Philly cheese steak.
Yet another staple he have never tried. If we had a dollar for every “Really? You’ve never had a cheese steak? You don’t know what you’re missing” comment we’ve heard, we would be millionaires by now.
And the truth is, no, we don’t know what we’re missing. We have absolutely no clue. How can you miss something you’ve never had? It would be like missing someone you’ve never met, right?
So, for us it’s really not a big deal…
Doesn’t mean however, we won’t try to re create it, our way!
We love the concept of the steak sandwich, so we created one putting a little vegan and middle eastern twist on it. We used seitan (wheat protein) instead of steak for its “meaty” texture and chewiness, and we seasoned it traditional middle eastern spices. Added onions, peppers and mushrooms for extra flavor and tahini sauce instead of cheese for a touch of creaminess and tanginess .
Not a big fan of seitan? Try using high protein extra firm tofu instead. Just make sure you squeeze as much water out of it as possible.
Hope you enjoy it!
- 8-10 oz seitan, cut into strips
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 pack baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp hot paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp cumin
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (for marinating)
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for cooking)
- 6 mini hoagie rolls (or any other small rolls )
- For the tahini sauce:
- ¼ cup Tahini paste
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 4 tbsp water
- Combine seitan, red pepper, onion and mushrooms in a bowl. Add garlic, sweet and hot paprika, salt, turmeric and black pepper. Mix ell so the spices coat the seitan, then add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and vinegar. Cover and place in fridge for one hour.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non stick skillet. Add marinated seitan and vegetables (including liquid) and cook over medium high heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- In the meantime, prepare the tahini sauce: combine tahini paste, salt and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix well. Whisk in water, one tablespoon at a time, until creamy
- Fill each hoagie with about ⅓ cup of cooked seitan and top with1 tablespoon of tahini sauce
I have never eaten a philly cheesesteak either but I am super excited to try this recipe!
Let us know how it turns out!
As a born and raised Philly girl I can tell you I would run past the cheese steak place on South St holding my nose as a young girl – cause the smell of the dripping fat and grease was disgustingly overwhelming. This looks and sounds SOOOOOO much better to me. Great job ladies!
Thank you so much Jamie!
I’ve never had a Philly cheesesteak either but have made a version with portobello mushroom. Quite delicious. This looks wonderful. I’ve never used seitan — can you believe that too?
Thats sounds really good…we might have to try that!! 🙂 You should try seitan and let us know what you think!
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after
I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
I made these for dinner tonight. They were so delicious! Huge hit at my house! I did substitute provolone cheese for the tahini sauce. My husband isn’t into tahini unfortunately. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I can’t wait to make these again!