Fried Chickn Salad

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During the pandemic, I ordered some soy curls and made fake chick'n nuggets out of of them, adapting this "chicken" soy curl salad. It was quite good! But it's much easier to buy fake chick'n from the store.The recipe for soy curl chick'n is at the bottom, in case you're inspired to try,  but nowadays I just buy and bake fake chick'n nuggets from Trader Joe's and cut those up over the salad. Delish. 

Ingredients

Fake chick'n, like TJ's fake nuggets, baked and cooled

Lettuce
Mix of veggies, like:
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Radish
Carrots
Sprouts
Bell pepper
Black olives (sliced)

Ranch dressing:
3 T vegan mayo
1 T non-dairy milk
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp poppy seed
a few chives, chopped (optional)
1 tsp dill

Instructions

On a bed of lettuce, arrange vegetables in piles around outer circle. Cut up fake chick'n nuggets and place them in the center. Top with ranch dressing applied lightly with sweeping motion. Eat!

Or: Make-your-own fake chick'n

1 1/2 C soy curls (or try cauliflower)
2 cups hot water
1 1/2 tsp no-chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Coating
2 T cornmeal
2 T whole wheat flour
1 T nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 T plain non-dairy yogurt (or 2 1/2 tsp non-dairy milk and 1/2 tsp lemon juice)

Put soy curls in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the hot water, bouillon, chipotle pepper, and black pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes, until the soy curls have softened. Remove from the heat and set aside while you mix the coating ingredients.

Combine the dry coating ingredients in a small bowl.

Drain the soy curls in a colander. Pour the soy curls into the bowl with yogurt and toss well to coat. 

Sprinkle the dry mix onto the curls a little at a time as you stir to make sure they’re all evenly coated.

Pour the soy curls onto a silicon-covered baking sheet and spread them out so that they aren’t touching.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn the soy curls over as best you can, breaking up any that have stuck together. Cook for 10-15 more minutes, until the soy curls are crispy on the outside.

Make the salad: On a bed of lettuce, arrange vegetables in piles around outer circle. Put fried curls in the center. Top with ranch dressing applied lightly with sweeping motion. Eat!

Radishes courtesy of our garden; mix broccoli, clover, alfalfa, and radish sprouts from a jar; and soy-curl baked fried chick'n:

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