Philly Steak Sub - Untraditional

Inspired by HipCityVeg, Philly's awesome vegan cafe, I decided to attempt to recreate their version of the Philly Steak Sub. The way they make their Philly Steak subs is very untraditional, but they are very good. First, they don't use [vegan] cheese. Second, they coat the seitan (the meat replacement), onions, and mushrooms in [vegan] mayo. And they use ketchup. All of these things make it pretty untraditional.

Sweet Earth had sent me a sample of their Traditional Seitan wheat meat in slices, which is impossible to find in the DC area--not just Sweet Earth's brand, but just sliced seitan in general. Around here, I've only been able to find chunks of seitan, which are great for stir fry dishes and ground, which is great for casseroles or Mexican dishes. So when I got my hands on the sliced seitan, I knew I wanted to make some subs.

Well, the subs turned out great, but, I can't lie, they were not as good as HipCityVeg's. The Sweet Earth seitan was incredibly good and seasoned just right and when paired with sauteed onions and mushrooms and coated in [vegan] mayo, it was the perfect sandwich filling. I also added some shredded lettuce, tomato, and ketchup, HipCityVeg-style. I put it all on a delicious Boulart skinny ciabatta found at Yes! Organic Market and made an incredibly filling sandwich! Try it for yourself.

Philly Steak Sub
Serves 4

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 yellow onion, sliced
• Sliced seitan (I used Sweet Earth Traditional Seitan)
• 1/3 cup vegan mayo (I used Earth Balance Mindful Mayo)
• 4 Ciabattas, sub rolls, or long rolls 
• Tomato, halved and sliced
• Lettuce, shredded
• Ketchup

Instructions
In a saute pan over medium heat, saute the mushrooms and onions in olive oil with salt and pepper until soft, about 10 minutes.

Chop the sliced seitan into large pieces (as pictured below) and saute them in a separate skillet over medium heat in some olive oil until browned on both sides.

Then, add the seitan to the saute pan with the mushrooms and onions and mix together. Remove from heat and put the mushrooms, onions, and seitan in a large bowl and mix with mayonnaise.  Add more mayo if desired.

Put the mushroom, seitan, onion mix on the sliced roll and top with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. (See pic above.) Enjoy!