Limed Seitan with Chard and Brown Rice Noodles, Quinoa, Corn-off-the-Cob

We were enjoying a nice playdate that was ending so another fellow Dad could go home and prepare dinner for his wife, when I suggested that she come here and that I make a meal for us all. So we had a nice meal with another couple and another toddler!

I cut a box of seitan into bite-sized chunks and marinated in a Key West Mojo Criollo marinade. I started sauteeing over medium-high in Persian lime-infused extra virgin olive oil a medium onion cut into 1/4" half moons and one small diced shallot. As the onion started becoming clear in a few minutes, I added the seitan.

In the meantime, I soaked a large handful of brown rice noodles in very hot tap water in a bowl and hand tore leaves from a stalk of chard and finely diced the stems. As the seitan started just showing signs of browning, I added the chard stem pieces. A few minutes later as the seitan browned more, I added the leaves, which I roughly hand tore into approximately 1/2" pieces.

I drained and washed in cold water the now softened noodles. As the chard leaves cooked down in another two or three minutes, I added the noodles, stirred till they were cooked (about 2 minutes), turned the heat off, and mixed in a little salt, lemon pepper, and fresh basil and lemon sage from my garden (maybe 4 leaves of basil, cut into quarters, and leaves from about 1 1/2" length of the lemon sage). It came out very well!

I also served corn-off-the-cob with juice of about 1/16 slice of Valencia orange, and a little Earth Balance margarine and salt. Multi-colored quinoa cooked with a vegan bouillon cube (2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, brought to a boil and simmered for a few minutes, then removed from heat and covered for 5+ minutes till the moisture was absorbed and the quinoa exhibited its characteristic spiral) and a small salad completed the meal.