Vegan day 57: Oven-fried “chicken” and collard greens
Skinny Bitch is at the top of my list of favorite books! Between Eat, Pray, Love and Skinny Bitch- my life for sure transformed– and school at ACHS of course! I will be completing my Holistic Health Practitioner program this year!
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| Oven-fried “chicken” and collard greens |
Naturally, I had to pick a recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch! It does take a moment to pick out recipes because I do like to limit white carbohydrates like bread and rice, pastas of most kinds and “fake” substitute products due to the fact that most are very processed. By all means, feel free to use substitutes to make the switch over to a vegan or vegetarian diet. Anything to minimize animal cruelty, the horrible food processing systems we have in place and of course the destruction of our eco systems. This blog however, is geared to eating healthy- and it’s a process. I strive to limit my “fake” products, processed and packaged foods! Today I decided to make a substitute meal not from a package necessarily but from scratch.
Oven-fried “chicken” and collard greens!
Those words alone sound dangerously yummy and comforting. Here goes the recipe– and my errors lol!
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| seitan from the package |
Oven-fried “chicken”
Coconut oil to grease a baking sheet
3/4 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup of vegan chicken bouillon (less please)
3T cornmeal (organic- remember corn is the #2 GMO product in the US)
1/2t sea salt
3/4t paprika
1/4t cayenne
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| the three mixes for dipping the seitan |
1 cup soy milk
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 1/2 pounds of seitan (in larger blocks or hunks)
Ok what the heck is vegan chicken bouillon? I really should spend a minute researching these things before I head out to the health food stores, however, I found it! But the recipe called for adding it to the dry mix and the one I found was in a gel consistency. I added it to the soy milk but my proportion was off because I am still thirsty and it’s 6 hours later! The recipe calls for 1/3 cup of the vegan chicken bouillon- luckily I didn’t put the whole 1/3 cup in- way too salty. More importantly could you imagine if this was MSG? That’s what’s in bouillons and spicy mixes like sazon! I know because I have cooked with them many times in the past- and always, I would get a headache and for the record, I don’t get headaches! MSG is associated with risks for brain damage, endocrine disorders, behavior disorders and neurodegenerative disease. Check out this four part video series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txiVDY-prk4
“Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer commonly added to Chinese food, canned vegetables, soups and processed meats. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that’s “generally recognized as safe,” the use of MSG remains controversial. For this reason, when MSG is added to food, the FDA requires that it be listed on the label.” ~ Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
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| before baking |
I have never made fried chicken or baked chicken for that matter. This was my first attempt- and with seitan of course, not chicken! Finding the seitan was part of the mission. What did they mean by big chunks as opposed to slices? Where does one find this? lol I found seitan packaged similar to how tofu usually comes and that’s what I bought.
What is SEITAN (say-tahn)? It’s wheat gluten, derived from the protein portion of wheat and it’s high in protein– not that we as much protein as you may think:
“According to the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein consumption, we humans should be getting about 10% of our energy from protein. This is considerably more than the actual amount required. But because requirements may vary from individual to individual, 10% dietary protein is recommended to insure adequate intake for virtually all people. What do most of us routinely consume? Remarkably, it is considerably more than the recommended 10%. The average American consumes 15-16% protein. Does this place us at risk for getting cancer. These animal studies hint that it does.”
“Ten percent dietary protein is equivalent to eating about 50-60 grams of protein per day, depending on body weight and total calorie intake.”
So I separated the ingredients for the mix into 3 bowls:
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| all done! |
- One with soy milk and the gel based bouillon (I do not recommend too much)
- The second with the brown rice flour
- Third with the panko whole wheat bread crumbs, corn meal, salt, paprika and cayenne
Take the seitan pieces and dip them in the soy milk- then into the brown rice flour; back into the soy milk again and finally into the bread crumb mix! Put them on the baking sheet into a pre-heated oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes on each side!
Collard greens
As good as they make these in the South, the traditional comforting kind trenched and over-sauteed in oil and pork- can’t honestly be healthy! Once you switch to a healthier diet, your taste buds actually change! What was once very tasty may be unappealing- too salty or too sugary! What you once would never eat- now becomes deliciously the norm. My collard greens (2 big bunches) were steamed for 5 minutes and then dropped into a frying pan of 1 1/2T of coconut oil with garlic sautéing- for 2 more minutes! The collards were a drop bitter and the baked seitan had turned out too salty so each bite had to contain both for the perfect balance. All-in-all, it was interestedly delicious!
REFERENCES:
T. Colin Campbell PhD, Thomas M. Campbell II, MD. 2006. The China Study. The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted. Dallas, TX: BenBella books
Disclaimer: The information given here is for educational purposes only. You should not use this to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.
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