Vegan Southern BBQ over Yellow Potato Salad

What would Labor Day weekend be without BBQ? I had a huge hankering for some yummy flavors of my past (the second past) when I moved to the South. Little did I know when I was watching Top Chef last week that I would see one of my past all-time favorites: Pulled Pork BBQ over Yellow Potato Salad. I love thinking about our non-vegan foods and converting them into vegan. Re-creating vegan entrees is a challenge sometimes. For this dish, my challenge was in deciding which protein I'd try in place of the pork. I settled on good old seitan. I get mine at Whole Foods, will come in either a clump (blue box) or a chicken style (yellow container)--either would be fine. For my recipe, I used the chicken style. The rest of the recipe is your traditional method for creating BBQ sauce. I like a zesty and spicy sauce. I added some heat--so just know this if you try this one on for size. We served a side of cooked-until-they-wilt green beans (fresh from the garden)--it was all so yummy! *Just place the green beans in a small saucepan and add about 4 cups of veggie broth and put on a low simmer. They aren't going anywhere--and they will be wonderful!

Vegan Southern BBQ over Yellow Potato Salad

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1 chili in adobo sauce diced

3/4 cup agave syrup

1 cup ketchup

3 tablespoons tomato paste (I use the stuff in the tube)

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic in the oil in a medium-sized pan for about five minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and let simmer for an hour--it should be fairly thick. Taste it! You can omit the adobo if you'd like.

For Seitan

1 package of seitan

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons Spike or Mrs. Dash

1 teaspoon dried oregano

couple sprinkles of paprika

fresh ground pepper

Drain the seitan well. Saute the seitan in medium pan with olive oil. Add seasonings. Saute until the seitan begins to brown. When BBQ sauce has thickened up, toss the seitan with the sauce in pan making sure the sauce is coating each piece.

Yellow Potato Salad

5 medium yukon gold potatoes peeled and quartered

1/2 medium onion diced

2 celery sticks diced

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/3 cup chopped green olives

1 cup vegan mayo

4 tablespoons yellow mustard

salt and pepper to taste (I use Spike)

2 teaspoons paprika

Boil potatoes for about 15 minutes--test with fork to be sure they are tender, but not mushy. Rinse under cold water. Reserve about a cup of potato for mashing. Cut the potatoes into small bite sized pieces and place in large bowl. Toss with remaining ingredients. Add the mashed potatoes to mixture. Season to taste.