How’s this for a motto: “Have seitan cutlets, will sauté.”

With fresh shiitakes and spinach in the house, it was fate that they end up in the same dish with my seitan. The whole thing came together in about 15 minutes. First I sautéed the spinach, took it out of the pan and set it aside. Then I sautéed the shiitakes with some green onion and a little soy sauce and mirin, and that, too, out of the pan. Into the same skillet went the seitan cutlets, which I cooked until hot and golden. After plating the seitan, the spinach and shiitakes went back into the skillet for a final blast of heat. Then I then piled it all on top of the seitan. Simple, elegant, delicious. You get the idea. Now about those potatoes….

One thing I like about potatoes (there are probably a million things I like about them, but I’ll try to concentrate on just this one) is their versatility. Take simple roasted potatoes for example, like the ones you see sharing the limelight with the seitan. They would have been perfectly yummy if just tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting. But here’s the thing: potatoes lend themselves to virtually any kind of seasonings. Add some spices (like curry or jerk spices), herbs (like fresh rosemary or basil), or other seasonings (such as garlic, lemon juice, and capers), and you can dress your spuds to go with anything. This time I used a fantastic spice blend from Chile called mapuche, a mixture of hot red chiles, cumin, coriander, and salt that gave the potatoes a wonderful flavor and lovely color.