In keeping with the Summer Vegetarian Diet, a.k.a. the Wedding Diet, I've been testing several Vegetarian substitutes for meat and meat like products. Last week was "Chik'n". A Boca Product, this round (no its not shaped like real chicken breast meat) is crispy when cooked properly and tastes surprisingly like the clucking stuff.
I served my Parm with Angel hair pasta instead of spaghetti or linguine. Once the pasta was aldente I put 1 lb of broccoli florets in the pasta water to blanch, then poured the water off.
Note: If you strain you pasta into a colander and leave an inch or so of water in the bottom of the pot you can leave the pot on a VERY low simmer and sit the colander over the steam to keep the pasta moist. This only works for about 15 minutes, then your pasta starts to get too mushy.
Now for the good stuff.
SAUCE!
Sauce makes everything taste like AWESOME!
My Super Veggie Sauce:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium-large Italian Eggplant, diced and dry-roasted
1 medium white onion, diced
1 pint mushrooms, cleaned and diced
3-4 roasted red peppers, sliced (jarred is fine)
1 10oz fire-roasted tomatoes, no salt added (if you can't find these, regular diced tomatoes will due) as always, fresh is better, but not always available.
1 8oz can tomato sauce, no salt added
4 oz wine, (red or white your choice) or red wine vinegar
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tsp lemon basil, chiffonade
1/2 tsp oregano, dry
1/2 tsp red pepper, crushed or ground
1/2 tsp sea salt
1. Add oil to warm pan
2. Add onion and garlic, let saute
3. Add all other chopped veggies and tomatoes. Let saute until mushrooms and eggplant have wilted.
4. Add tomatoes, sauce, wine, and herbs, let simmer for 15 minutes. If sauce is a little thick, add 1 cup water or pasta water to pan and let simmer. You have to simmer the sauce long enough for the wine or vinegar to mellow, otherwise your sauce will have an acidic bite to it.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm
The Chik'n is pretty simple. They come frozen so I put mine in the oven for about 15 min on 350 with a sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese on top.
Assembly is as you like it, pasta/broccoli-sauce-chik'n, or sauce-pasta/broccoli-chik'n, or pasta/broccoli-chik'n-sauce.
I suggest this meal even for you devout meat eaters, because the "meat" tastes like chicken! No, really, just like it!
But if the idea of substituting a soy-based product for a marigold and corn fed feather covered non-flying bird, use the real stuff. But keep the sauce super veggie, because that's where all the good-for-you stuff is.
Happy Chik'n!
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