Jerk Mango and Seitan with Madagascar Pink Rice (No Added Fat)

I had some tasty mangoes and had the idea to cook some mango with seitan. My idea was to saute onion, mango, and seitan, and serve with jerk seasoning.

I also took a look online and found that I'm (of course!) not the first to think of cooking mango with seitan. I found an interesting sounding Thai Mango Seitan Stir-Fry recipe where the mango is made into a sauce; I should try an approach like this sometime. But for tonight, here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 1/2 cup onion, cut into thin (approx. 1/4" x 1"; I used almost half of a small onion) half moon slices
• 1 1/4 cup Russet (I used a medium one) or Yukon Gold potato cut into approx. 3/8" cubes
• 8 ounces seitan cut into approx. 3/4" cubes (ideally - my package had seitan in strips maybe 1/4" x 1 1/4", and that was what I used)
• 1T fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2-3 T coconut aminos (or low-sodium soy or tamari sauce)
• 1/3 cup mango pieces cut into approx. 3/8" cubes (I used a medium ataulfo "champagne" mango, one of my favorite types)
• (optional) 1/4 t organic lemon or lime zest (I had an organic Meyer lemon so instead just chopped up the lemon after squeezing and used a full teasponful)
• 2/3 cup bell pepper cut into approx. 1/4"x3/4" strips
• 1t jerk seasoning

Process

1. I put the garlic, onion, and potato into a stainless steel skillet with no oil and cooked, stirring occasionally, on medium high heat for about 10 minutes till the potato was a bit softenened and just showing a little bit of browning.
2. I then added the seitan and lemon juice (and would have added the coconut aminos, but we were out), stirred and cooked for a minute
3. I added the mango, zest (Meyer lemon pieces), and bell pepper, stirred and cooked on low for about 5 more minutes, then served my daughter's portion. For my wife and me, I mixed in the jerk seasoning first.

I served  with Madagascar pink rice (normally it is cooked in a ratio of 1 part rice to 1 3/4 cups water and a bit of salt, simmered for 18-20m, but I use a ratio of 1:2, and include a vegan bouillon cube; this time, I added a pinch of turmeric, too, for its health benefits). I also made a chopped salad with tomato, olive, ume plum vinegar, freshly ground black pepper, a dash of salt, and chopped oregano leaves from the garden.

Results

Dinner was good - we all enjoyed it. The potato would have cooked better either if baked and then cubed or just cooked on my cast iron pan.

Usually when I cook on my stainless Saladmaster skillet, if I add acid like tomato, anything that sticks easily comes off with a little scraping. However, the lemon juice didn't do as good a job (but the pan easily cleaned as always with a little soaking and then scrubbing). However, the bits of charred food that I did scrape off added nice specks of color and taste to the main course.

Ideas for the future

I should explore a mango sauce served with a seitan course, perhaps like the referenced recipe at the top. Maybe I should try making a main course as I often do in my Instant Pot and simply mix in raw cubes of mango. Mango is so good and I'm looking forward to expanding its use to more main courses!