General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n

The fajitas were the best thing I ate all year...until this. This beats the hell out of anything I've eaten this year. Or last year. Or maybe every year. I've seen recipes for "cauliflower mock chicken wings" as they circulate around the internet, and have been curious to try them, and I guess this recipe is pretty much the same thing.

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n

Cauliflower replaces chicken in this recipe and it does a pretty darn good job of it. It's amazing! It's served with rice, green beans and red peppers and we topped it with more of the General Tso sauce, sesame seeds and raw cashews. A bit high in sodium, but not all that unhealthy. The cauliflower is baked, not fried, so there is no oil at all in the recipe. You just wash, dry and bread bite-sized cauliflower florets then bake them. Then add the sauce.

Cauliflower Discected

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n recipe here

Like Chicken, But Better

The roasted breaded cauliflower gets re-baked in the General Tso sauce and the result is very similar to boneless chicken wings. It doesn't have a chicken flavor, but the sauce provides the flavors you're looking for and the cauliflower has a great texture. When you bite into one of them it's very much the same as having boneless chicken. You know when you bite into a chicken wing and you sometimes get a mouthful of chicken fat? Some might enjoy it, but I used to spit it out and pretend it never happened while trying to continue to enjoy my meal. Well, with the cauliflower, you never get a bite like that! You can sink your teeth in and know there is no fat, vein, gristle, bone or cartilage to impede your chewing pleasure. S'all good, and that's a quality about eating veg that I really appreciate. So, when I say this is better than eating real chicken wings, or real chicken balls, I mean that wholeheartedly! They taste as good, they have a better texture and there is no mental "I'm eating an animal" barrier preventing me from 100% enjoyment.

General Tso’s Vegan Chik’n on Basmati Rice

General Tso Sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced
1" ginger, minced
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sriracha

Until Next Time

I'm not even kidding, both times we've had these I've eaten until stuffed and still kept going. Ugh! But, they're so good! Missy, who was here for dinner, agreed they would be good with any sauce you would serve on chicken: barbeque, orange or lemon sauce, sweet & sour, teriyaki, honey garlic, etc. We don't rate our meals anymore, because these are pretty much all favorites, but Missy gave it a 9. I say 10, personally.

We made a double batch and froze the other half for another meal. Hmmm....Lemon Chicken, maybe?