Hearty stew

Seitan stew: For a thicker gravy, use whole-wheat bread flour. For a meatier taste, add Portobello or other mushrooms with the vegetables. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune)

Why would a vegetarian want faux beef stew?

Perhaps because stew is a dish that my mother never made, not once. I had my first taste of beef stew right after college. I loved it. It was the dish I missed most when I stopped eating meat. Perhaps it represents those heady days of first freedom, being 21, living in my first apartment.

Those elements are mixed up in this faux beef stew, but mainly I like this seitan-based dish because it tastes delicious.

Tips: The best-textured seitan is found in the refrigerated section of natural food stores. You can also find it — less expensively, but with a spongier texture — in cans at Asian food stores.

For a thicker gravy, use whole-wheat bread flour. For a meatier taste, add Portobello or other mushrooms with the vegetables.

Seitan stew

Prep: 45 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium carrots, thinly sliced diagonally
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced diagonally
1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds seitan, cubed
1 1/2 pounds medium potatoes, skins on, parboiled, cut in eighths