Viva Vegan - Peruvian Seitan & Potato Skewers

Ok ok, so I didn't really make this recipe, but kinda did!  I wanted a filling for soft tacos and remembered that I had made this a few years ago, so decided to base my filling on this for a change from our usual fillings.

I really only used the marinade for this recipe, as I made so many changes.....I didn't make them as skewers, didn't use the seitan recipe called for (Niall doesn't like homemade stuff and loves the stuff you can get in cans), didn't use potatoes and added some mushrooms instead.

I used the whole recipe for the marinade, but roughly half the amount of seitan (didn't really measure so not sure) and no potatoes - I wanted it quite saucy rather than a dry marinade, and if I remember I would do this again.

Having made all those changes, we loved the final result - Niall even commented how good it was.  He had been concerned that it would be vinegary as it had smelled quite strongly of vinegar as it was marinating but it wasn't.

My only real gripe was that it was quite oily but I guess that was because I cooked it all up in a pan rather than on skewers, maybe?

I have made this in the past as a pan fry thing with potatoes and that does work really we too, just wasn't what we were after this time.

Final verdict: great flavours, and with shop bought seitan a nice easy recipe
Final rating: 4.5 out of 5 (losing half a point for the oiliness)

Vegan Diner - Quick and Hearty Chili

For some reason I decided on chili a few weeks ago - I hadn't had one in ages, although we've been having plenty of fajitas, enchiladas, nachos.....why not chili!?
I used to have a go to recipe that was given to me by my sister, but I remembered making the Quick & Hearty Chili recipe from Vegan Diner a few years ago and it tasting remarkably similar to the recipe my sister had given me and that it only took about a quarter of the time.  So I grabbed Vegan Diner and that was the recipe I went to...

I made a few changes to suit what I had in and our preferences. The recipe calls for 2 cans of kidney beans - Niall isn't a super huge bean fan and I only had black beans in, so used 1 can of black beans.  I think if I had used the two cans called for it would have been too beany for my liking (and definitely too much for Niall).  To make up some of the bulk I added a bit more TVP (maybe an extra half a cup).
I also didn't use capsicum (bell pepper), as they are quite spendy at the moment and also Niall isn't keen on them.  So instead I added some mushrooms, as that was a staple in the recipe my sister gave me many years ago.

Aside from that I made the recipe as is, and I had forgotten how good it is!  It really does taste like it has been bubbling away for hours, when in actual fact it is quite a quick recipe to make.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed this and I made a mental note not to leave it so long before making it again!

Final verdict: delicious, easy to make recipe
Final score: 4.5 out of 5 (losing half a star because would have been too many beans if I'd made the recipe as is)