Me…a vegan? Who knew!!
For about a year or so now, I have struggled with digestive issues. With the issues getting closer together, and my wedding fastly approaching I decided to take care of it. After my first consultation and finding report I was put on a dairy free diet. This didn’t seem to be to hard to do for one month, to rid my body of whatever it is fighting against digesting. But for someone who doesn’t eat meat very often-this put me in the “vegan” category when it came to most of my cooking. Honestly, I have enjoyed it so far! This week consisted of banana chocolate cream pie with raw almond crust, vegan broccoli fettucini alfredo, cinnamon bun pancakes and green chicken sammies. See it’s not so bad 
For a chef, this isn’t a lifestyle I am going to chose to have for the rest of my life, I strongly believe in everything in moderation, and following a flexatarain diet (one that consists of little meat). But following this diet for one month has already given me a better understanding of what some of my clients have to do everyday. It has made me create dairy free, lactose free, and meat free options in my own kitchen, instead of just in their homes. And after feeling better already, I will be watching my dairy intake closely from now on.
The recipe I wanted to share with you is so easy, and sooo tasty! It’s a great recipe to cook inside on a skillet if you cant cook it outside on the grill. And for me, it was accompanied by a black bean, lime, cilantro and mango salsa that was scooped up with corn chips.
The protein in this recipe is called “Quorn” a meat substitute found at most health food stores in the freezer section. There are believed to be over 600,000 varieties of fungi in the world, like varieties of mushrooms, truffles and morels. The principal ingredient in all Quorn products is mycoprotein (“myco” is Greek for “fungi”). You can learn more about it here http://www.quorn.us/About-Us/
Green “Chix” Sammies
2 T. olive oil
1/3 c. chopped cilantro
2 T. fresh thyme
zest of 1 lime
juice of 3 limes
3 tsp. hot sauce (I really love chalula hot sauce)
salt and pepper
4 Quorn, “chicken” cutlets
Avocado Mash:
2 avocados
1 jalepano, finely diced
1 tsp hot sauce
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon
4 crusty dinner rolls
chopped lettuce
-Place cutlets in a gallon ziplock bag with all ingredients before avocado mash and let marinade 2-4 hours. Remove from marinade and cook on a hot grill or hot saute pan until warmed through. Place on a crusty roll with avocado mash and fresh lettuce.
You see it’s so tasty, and super easy! Try it with chicken cutlets if you’re a meat eater its good that way to I’m sure!
buy local. cook fresh. eat pure,
Amanda
