The day before yesterday we sat down with our accountant to do our taxes. We have one of those now. Now that I’m writing and pitching and baking my little vegan way through the world… well my taxes are way more complex than this little vegan lady can handle. The days of finding a H&R Block at my closest strip mall are over.
But really we’re OK with that. Our lovely friends over at Our Hen House referred us to their accountant and really he’s just the nicest guy. So after I left his office – the sun was shining and it felt like spring for the first time in the big city. I walked around the village, got my nails painted a robin egg blue to match the sky and headed down to Whole Foods to get some food for dinner. It was a little like this.
Taxes done and blue nails – don’t think the day could get better than that? I found two kick ass vegan wunderkinds in the mock meat section. The first was some of Tofurky’s Vegan ChickN & Apple Artisan Sausages (one of the new products we got to sample when we did our tour of the Tofurky headquarters when we were in Oregon – more on that to come) and some Beyond Meat. Now I know you’ve heard of this stuff. It’s the new product even Bill Gates is calling The Future of Food. Not vegan food – Food Food. If you’re anywhere near Facebook you’ve probably already seen this but if not you should check this out. We’d heard about Beyond Meat for years before we actually got to try it for the first time a few weeks ago when we were in Portland. We found them at Food Fight Grocery when we were at Herbivore for our book signing. Yes more about that to come too.
When we had Beyond Meat in Portland I have to admit I didn’t make it right the first time. I mean I made it fine but that’s not the same thing. See we fried it up in a cast iron skillet with some oil and BBQ sauce like you would any old vegan chicken. But Beyond Meat is pretty dense outta the package and actually benefits a lot from a good marinade… like real chicken meat. It won’t get spongey or lose flavor in a way that makes me wonder if some kind of deal was made with the underworld. So while the test run with The Hoot-Manns (what Dan and I have started calling Josh Hooten, Michelle Schwegmann and their little ‘un Ruby – the lovely family behind The Herbivore Clothing Company) was still pretty delicious – we learned and adapted. We have directions on how to make this recipe if you’re using another vegan chicken product below.
This recipe was originally going to be “Nacho Waffles” but since we scored some Beyond Meat – well this delicious dish that combines savory cornmeal waffles with Tequila & Lime marinaded vegan chicken and guacamole was our destiny. All roads lead to vegan chicken and waffles I guess.
Vegan Mexican Chicken & Waffles
Savory Cornmeal Waffles
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Cornmeal
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/4 cup Chopped Red Onion
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
dash or 1/8 teaspoon Cumin
3 teaspoons Nutritional Yeast
2 Tablespoon Applesauce
2 cups Soymilk
1 Tablespoon EnerG Egg Replacer (powder not made per directions on the package)
1 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseed
Lime & Tequila Vegan Chicken
1 package Vegan Chicken, defrosted (we used Beyond Meat Southwest Chicken when we made this but you can use whatever your favorite vegan chicken is – there are instructions below for both)
1 shot Tequila
Juice from 1 Lime
1/2 teaspoon grated Lime Peel
Dash of Hot Sauce
1 Tablespoon Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Nutritional Yeast
Pinch of Crushed Black Peppercorns
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Toppings – These are up to you. Here’s some suggestions:
Your favorite Salsa or Pico De Gallo
Guacamole – you can use Dan’s recipe if you’d like
Chopped Cilantro
Sliced Black Olives
Daiya Vegan Cheese
Sour Cream
In a shallow dish or bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the Lime & Tequila Vegan Chicken except the Vegan Chicken and Olive Oil Cooking Spray until blended. Then add Vegan Chicken and toss with a fork until the Vegan Chicken is completely covered. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. While it sits, flip and mix the Vegan Chicken a few times to make sure it gets an even marinade.
If you aren’t using Beyond Meat – toss your Vegan Chicken with all the ingredients except Olive Oil Cooking Spray and then cook them all together in a hot skillet that’s been coated in using the cooking spray.
Heat your waffle maker following the directions that came with your maker. There are a lot different ones out there and some require non-stick spray and some don’t… etc.
In a large mixing bowl, blend all your Waffle ingredients until it’s smooth using a handheld electric mixer. Use a ladle to pour about 1/2 cup of waffle batter for each waffle. Make sure your waffles cook completely before taking them from the waffle maker. The crispier the better.
While you’re making your waffles, spray down your cast iron skillet with Olive Oil Cooking Spray and and heat over a medium until your oil is hot. Then add your Vegan Chicken and marinade and cook until your Vegan Chicken is lightly browned and has crispy edges.
Serve your waffles and vegan chicken warm with your favorite toppings.
Pretty simple... Come with us if you want to live. 
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These ARE the best waffles ever! I served these up with fresh strawberries and bananas and they were delicious. Prepared as directed with the exception that I did add a little vanilla to the batter. I will definitely be making these again and again.