Vegantastic Shrimp Parmesan!

Years ago when we were still eating seafood, eggs, and diary products there were few meals we enjoyed more than a good shrimp parmesan. Reserved for special occasions, like anniversaries and Valentine's Day, Jenna would whip up a huge pan of cheese covered breaded shrimp and serve it with a huge helping of pasta and garlic bread.

A lot has changed since then. For one, we no longer consume any animal-based products. Thank goodness! For two, we try to make better eating choices in general when it comes to meals like this. As in, pasta made from vegetables and smaller portions. We also load the marinara sauce up with veggies and mushrooms and split a piece of garlic bread half the size of what we would have eaten years ago.

With all that said, making the change from shrimp to the plant-based seafood made by Sophie's Kitchen, The Vegg instead of egg yolk, Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Cheese, and Garden Delight Veggie Pasta drastically reduces the negative caloric and fat intake a meal like this would typically include. So feel free to make it on any "special" occasion. Like getting a good grade on a test or remembering to take a shower... okay any reason at all!

These substitutes are much lower in calories and fat and.... they are amazingly tasty!

This meal is going to include a lot of different vegan products and is a great opportunity to try out a variety of these speciality vegan creations.

You will need:

Sophie's Kitchen Vegan Prawns
The Vegg Vegan Egg Yolk
Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese
Garden Delight Pasta (or pasta of your choice)
Bread Crumbs
Oil for pan-frying
Pasta Sauce (loaded with veggies of choice and/or mushrooms)
Fresh Bread
Earth Balance
Garlic Powder
Nutritional Yeast

So to begin, Sophie's Kitchen is a great company which offers a wide variety of frozen seafood-like products like breaded fish fillets and vegan prawns. They also offer a breaded shrimp which would probably work great for this recipe but we were really eager to try out a new product called "The Vegg" so we went with the unbreaded variety.

The Vegg is the world's first totally vegan egg yolk. This is the first time we have used it and let us tell you- yes, it looks like egg. Yes, it is the texture of egg. Yes, it works in recipes like egg. But more than any of that... this stuff SMELLS like egg. After blending it up to use for breading the vegan prawns we were so overwhelmed and impressed with how much this vegan product resembles actual egg yolk. You have to give this stuff a try. People are making some amazing things with it like french toast, and fried "eggs"... we are really eager to keep working with it.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese is always amazing. Palm oil free, super melty, and full of flavor. Just how we like it! If you're worried about missing cheese after taking the vegan plunge, don't worry, this compassionate cheese has you covered.

Now, to the recipe.

First, mix your Vegg with water and blend according to directions on bag. You will only need enough to dip your prawns in for breading purposes.

Next, heat a pan to medium-high heat with some oil for frying and fill a shallow bowl or plater with bread crumbs.

Then, dip each of your prawns into The Vegg until covered in liquid and then put immediately into the bread crumbs until well coated.

If pan is ready and well heated set your coated prawns in the oil and fry both sides until golden brown. Set on paper towel covered plate to drain excess oil.

Now, prepare your mariana sauce of choice and make sure to add a good amount of peppers, onions, fresh garlic, and mushrooms. You will need about two cups of sauce.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cut your vegan cheese in slices from the block. Each slice should be about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick at most- you want them to melt pretty evenly in the oven.

Layer a shallow baking pan with 1/4 sauce, followed by breaded prawns, then 1/4 cup sauce and cheese.

Let bake in over for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil your noodles. When we can't get a hold of local noodles made from veggies we default to a product Ronzoni makes called Garden Delight. They can be found in most grocery stores and the nutrition is much better compared to most common pasta varieties. Not that you will be able to taste much of a difference. Less starchy and processed perhaps. But that's about all.

By the time your noodles are boiled it should be about time to check on your prawns. If the cheese is not yet browning set on top rack of oven and broil for just a few seconds. This will happen fast! Then remove from oven and set aside.

Turn your oven back down to 350ºF and spread some Earth Balance on a piece of french bread or fresh bread of your choice. Then top with grated garlic or garlic powder. You could also add some some dried basil/oregano and perhaps a little dried red pepper. Bake for just a few minutes until Earth Balance is melted and bread begins to crisp.

You could alternatively make some of our quick and easy Impressive Bread in a pinch.

Now, everything should be ready to serve. Drain your noodles and top with remaining sauce on a large plate or in a large bowl. This meal is all about family style serving!

Bring over some tongs/spatulas and serve-up the pasta/sauce, garlic bread, and baked cheesy prawns. We also made a salad to go on the side. Gotta throw in more veggies anywhere you can!

Serve with a side of Nutritional Yeast for a cheesy flavored topping!

We hope you enjoy this meal. It is certainly one of our favroties. And honestly, when you can still make a delicious creulty-free shrimp parmesan, with the help of companies like Sophie's Kitchen, The Vegg, and Follow Your Heart- what reason is there not to go vegan?

With peace, love, and compassion-
The Two Vegan Ladies

Asian Style Panko Crusted Seitan

Time to cook: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Moderate-Difficult

Serves: 2 (large portions) 

You will need:

Seitan! 

They do make a few different kinds of pre-made seitan which can be purchased at Whole Foods or your local vegan market, but we typically go for the Arrowhead Mills brand of Vital Wheat Gluten and make our own. It gives you a bit more freedom as far as taste. Just prepare it according to the instructions and don't be afraid to add some extra spices like garlic and dried basil. It takes some time to prepare but the taste in sensational in the final product when you go homemade. Also make sure to simmer in veggie stock and not water- big difference!

When you're finished with your seitan it should look something like this. You want your pieces to be bite sized for the most part. Some variation is to be expected.

You will also need:

Ener-g Egg Replacer

Panko Crumbs

Non-dairy milk (we like Almond Milk)

Garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Oil

Fruit/veggies (we went with fresh pineapple and green bell peppers)

Sauce of your choosing 

So first get your ingredients together for the breading station- Ener-g, panko, and non-dairy milk. Add a few tablespoons of Ener-g to a bowl with 1/3 cup of non-dairy milk. You want your mixture to be thick enough to coat your seitan but not pudding thick. Fill a plate with layer of panko crumbs and also mix in a small amount of garlic, salt, and pepper if the mood strikes you. Mix well.

Heat a skillet with a 1/4 inch of oil on medium-high heat. Then begin the breading process. Take a piece of seitan and dip it in your Ener-g and non-dairy milk mixture then immediately toss into panko crumbs. Coat both sides.

When the seitan is entirely coated set it in the oil. Each piece will need to cook around 10 minutes on each side depending on your heat. It may need less, it may need more. Just turn them over when it feels right! You want that lovely golden brown color.










Once all of your seitan pieces are breaded and fried set them on a few paper towels to let the excess oil drain off.











Let your breaded seitan sit while you chop your fruits and veggies. If you're going with a sweeter sauce we suggest pineapples and green peppers, but this part is totally up to you. You're going to just want to pair it with your sauce.

Note: If you're using a spicier sauce like General Tso's, fresh pineapple is a great way to balance out all that heat!

Chop your fruits/veggies just slightly smaller than your largest seitan pieces. You want them to complement each other.

Throw your fruits/veggies into a heated skillet with a little oil and toss around to coat.

After a minute or so add in some of your sauce and continue to toss and coat. Add in a little garlic, salt, and pepper as well if desired.

The goal here is to just slightly cook your fruits/veggies. Just enough to heat and make soft.  You want to make them easy to chew but never soggy.

Your next step is to add in your seitan and the remainder of your sauce. So let's talk about sauce options for a minute.




The sauce we used to coat our breaded setian was a special plum sauce Brandy's mother brought down from Conneticut. For some reason they don't sell it outside of Chinese restaurants in the Northeast and although we have found a recipe for it online, the process takes two weeks. This sauce is intense to say the least! If you live up near Connecticut/Rhode Island or are visiting the area- they call this stuff "duck sauce" but it's really just a dark brown deliciously sweet plum sauce. We highly suggest purchasing it by the gallon and using it with all your asian inspired meals.

So, if you aren't in the Northeast and want a delicous sauce and don't have time to make your own, what should you do? We suggest the Iron Chef's line of glazes and sauces. With these you can really go any direction with flavor. General Tso, Sesame, Teriyaki, Orange, Sweet Pepper. As far we know all the sauces are vegan aside from the Mexican Beer and Chipotle (that one isn't quite an asian style sauce anyway) and obviously the Honey Garlic contains honey.

You're going to want to use about 1/2 a cup of this sauce all together and with the last few tablespoons add a splash of warm water and throw it into the pan to really spread the sauce around and coat the fruit/veggies/seitan. Let that heat for a few minutes while the sauce and water gets absorbed and then remove from heat. Do not over cook during this step or your seitan breading will get mushy.

Serve with brown rice and broccoli or any sides of your choosing.

Don't forget, everything tastes better when you eat it with chopsticks!

With love, peace, and compassion-

The Two Vegan Ladies