Vegan stroganoff for a hearty dinner on Meatless Monday

Everyone reaches a point during the holiday season when the thought of one more bite of holiday food makes you feel like never eating again. You'll get over it -- we promise -- but in the meantime, there are plenty of other comfort foods that can fill you up without conjuring up visions of sugarplums. This vegan stroganoff is one of them; adapted from Vegan With a Vengeance, the recipe uses red onions instead of shallots, our homemade mock chicken stock and seitan from Denver Seitan Company (you can also make your own seitan, but Denver Seitan's is better than anything we've been able to do at home). And if you eat eggs, feel free to use egg noodles instead of the linguine we chose.

See also: Red beans and rice with Denver Seitan Company wheat meat for Meatless Monday

You will need:

2 cups vegetable stock (make your own for best results) 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder 8 teaspoons olive oil 1 medium red onion 1 large white onion 4 cloves garlic 2 cups cremini mushrooms 2 portobello caps 2 teaspoons dried thyme 2 packages Denver Seitan Company seitan (or 3 1/2 cups homemade seitan) 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup pinot grigio or other similar red wine 1 tablespoon paprika 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes 1/2 cup non-diary milk -- we used plain hemp milk; soy milk (unflavored) would be another good option 2 teaspoons dijon mustard 1 cup frozen green peas 1/2 pound linguine

1. Put the arrowroot powder in the vegetable broth and stir well to dissolve. 2. Chop the onions. Heat about half the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for about five minutes, until they're starting to soften. While the onions are cooking, rinse the mushrooms. Thinly slice the mushrooms (and peel the garlic, too). By now, the onions should be perfect. Add the thyme and use a garlic press to press the garlic into the onions (or you can mince the garlic). Add the mushrooms and saute for about fifteen minutes, until they're nice and soft. 3. Meanwhile, slice the seitan into thin strips; heat the rest of the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet and add the seitan. Cook for about ten minutes or so, until it's browned and crispy. 4. When the mushrooms are soft, add the red wine to the sauce mixture. Add the paprika and salt. Cook for about ten minutes, until the wine is reduced and sauce has thickened. Is your seitan browned yet? If so, turn off the heat -- and now would be a good time to start boiling water for the pasta. 5. Turn down the heat on the sauce to medium and add the broth-arrowroot mixture. Stir everything together well and let the sauce thicken -- the arrowroot will help that happen pretty quickly, in about five minutes. 6. Add the nutritional yeast flakes. Stir until it's absorbed by the sauce. 7. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the hemp milk... ...and the mustard -- and if your water is boiling, start cooking the pasta according to the package directions. Stir your sauce, and make sure it doesn't boil after this point or the milk and mustard might taste funny in the stroganoff. Add the seitan. And add the frozen peas; stir everything together and cook for another ten minutes, until everything is warm and combined. That's some finished sauce right there! 8. When your pasta is cooked, drain it. Ladle the pasta onto plates or into bowls and top with the sauce. Serve immediately! This recipe will feed about six hungry adults.

• Vegetarian