As somewhat of a girlie-girl who was once on the receiving end of the following Valentine's gift - a mostly melted chocolate tool box set for that extra special handyman in your life - I can attest to this: Last minute Valentine's gifts can be a bit of a letdown. If you are still scrambling for the perfect V-day sentiment, a quick pit stop to the grocery store for this easy vegan Valentine's Day dinner can surely fix this gift dilemma, tool belt not required.
A Vegan Valentine's Day Recipe: Sun-Dried Tomato Encrusted Gardein Chick'n
Ingredients
Gardein Chick'n Scallopini (frozen - thaw before using) 1 Pkg
for the chick'n
fresh bread crumbs 1 cup
oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, drained (save oil) 1/2 cup
oil reserved from tomatoes 1 tbsp
garlic cloves, large minced 2
flour, all purpose 1 cup
soy milk 1 cup
for the spinach basil, cashew puree
spinach leaves , fresh 1 lb
basil leaves, fresh 6 tbsp
cashew cream or soy milk 6 tbsp
nutritional yeast 3 tbsp
salt 1/8 tsp
pepper ¼ tsp
for the potatoes
baby potatoes 1 lb
olive oil ¼ cup
salt ¼ tsp
pepper ½ tsp
Instructions
for the potatoes....cover potatoes with cold water in a medium sized thick bottomed pot. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until just fork tender. Drain and cool immediately.
preheat oven to 400º F, once potatoes are cooled, cut in half and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. place potatoes cut side down on non stick baking pan. Bake potatoes for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy, remove from oven, then sprinkle with parsley.
for the spinach basil cashew puree...bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add spinach and cook until just tender approximately 30-45 seconds . Drain and place spinach into ice water immediately. When spinach is cold drain and squeeze out excess water. transfer spinach, basil, cashew cream and nutritional yeast to food processor. Blend until smooth and refrigerate.
for the chick'n....in a food processor, process the bread crumbs, sundried tomatoes, reserved oil and garlic cloves until well incorporated. Dredge each thawed Gardein cutlet in flour, then dip into the soy milk and then into the sundried tomato breadcrumbs. Sauté each side until lightly caramelized and crisp.
assemble the dish....
Plate the hot roasted potatoes and re-heated spinach puree on each of the serving plates and top with sundried tomato and sundried tomato crusted Gardein. Garnish with sundried tomato and micro greens.
prep: 25 mins
cook: 15 mins
serves: 4
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