So, after I successfully managed to make a crispy “skinned” turkey style breast from setian, I decided to adapt the recipe to create a garlic lemon “chicken” breast with crispy rice paper skin.
This recipe is just as easy and delicious as the turkey style breast, but more sutible for a year round meal. This seitan “chicken” comes together fairly quickly and the rice paper makes the most delicious crispy skin. The lemon garlic flavor is wonderful for serving over rice, with mashed potatoes, or even over a healthy salad.
The “chicken” also reheats really well making it a great meal to prep on a weekend and reheat for quick weeknight dinners. Instead of using jackfruit like I did in the turkey style roast, I used chickpeas to give this recipe an extra punch of protein and substance. I really like how it turned out, and was happy to find a use for all the chickpeas I always have in my pantry.
If you have not worked with seitan before, don’t be scared. It is essentially just making and working with a simple dough! A serving of seitan actually has as much protein as a piece of lean chicken, and adding chickpeas to this recipe just increases the protein this meal has to offer!!
I happen to be one of those people who stopped eating meat for health reasons, and later began seeing the the importance of going vegan for animlas and the environment. That being said, I never disliked the taste of meat and often find myself craving the simplicity of a simple rice, chicken, and veggie dinner. If this is true for you as well, then I think this might be a recipe you will really enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
1 can chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1/2 small yellow onion
1 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence, or Poultry spice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup chickpea liquid
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon
RICE PAPER SKIN:
2 tablespoons white wine
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 -2 teaspoons No Chicken Better than Bouillon
6 sheets rice paper
Juice from one lemon
zest from one lemon
lemon slices for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, and the 1/2 onion. Process for a few minutes until the onion and chickpeas are good and broken down.
Add in the remaining ingredients except the water. Process for several minutes. You want the mixture to come together into a dough you can handle. Allow the food processor to run for a full minute or two to knead the dough. If it seems too dry and is crumbly, add in some water until it comes together.
After the dough has hung out in the food processor for several minutes, remove and place onto a clean dry surface. Continue to knead the dough while forming it into a smooth oval shape. Cut into 6 equal piece, shaping them into the shape of a chicken breast.
Spray 6 pieces of aluminum foil with spray oil, or brush the foil with some oil. This step is important because the oil is going to prevent the “chicken” from sticking to the foil.
Add all of the ingredients for the rice paper skin, except the rice paper ,to a shallow dish or pie pan and whisk. Place one sheet of rice paper into the liquid and let it sit there util it becomes completely soft. This takes several minutes. Lay the rice paper onto a sheet of foil and place one piece of “chicken” in the center of the paper. Fold up the sides of the rice paper around the piece of “chicken” and place a few lemon slices on top. Seal up the foil in the middle and twist the ends making a pouch. Repeat with remaining pieces of “chicken” and rice paper.
Place the foil pouches on a baking sheet on the middle oven rack and bake sealed for about 25 minutes. After 25 minutes open up each pouch ( be carefully not burn yourself with the steam) and allow them to bake opened for another 30 minutes. This will crisp up the rice paper skin.
You can serve this chicken right away but allowing it to rest for serval hours will greatly improve the texture and help it firm up. Just pop the breast in the fridge and allow them to rest 2-4 hours. Just pop them back in the oven (give them a mist with oil) at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until the skin has crisped back up. Again you can serve them right away but I prefer the texture once they have rested.
Serve with rice or mashed potatoes or even sliced and on a salad.
