Oh, Pinterest. My cooking hobby would not be what it is today without the aid of this addicting wonderful website. Browsing brings so many ideas of new dishes to experiment with in my kitchen. Usually, I follow the recipes I select pretty closely at first. Sometimes they seep into longterm memory, and I no longer need to read them. And sometimes that leads to innovations. But I still feel like it is the product of someone else’s creativity, so I can’t bring myself to write a new recipe of what I’ve made.
Well, one of our dinner’s last week definitely crossed over the line to innovation for me, because of the amount I had to substitute. My Pinterest scrolling landed me on this recipe for Dijon Chicken and Mushrooms. Why it appealed to me, I don’t know. I’m vegetarian. I don’t like mushrooms (though I will cook with them). And, as a teetotaler, I avoid cooking with any alcohol. But the pictures looked so pretty. I’m a sucker for pretty. And it called for tarragon. I’d heard of the herb before, but couldn’t remember tasting it, let along cooking with it. Turns out this famous herb is in the sunflower family. I love sunflowers! So obviously finding a way to make this dish was meant to be.
I usually try to avoid relying on meat replacements too much. I don’t like that they are often über processed, though admittedly, I find many of them quite tasty. But I was already going to change so much of this dish, that I thought I better try to stick to something “close” to chicken. So I picked up some Quorn Naked Chicken Cutlets, which happen to also be soy and gluten free. They worked perfect in this dish.
Instead of wine, I used vegetable broth and a little apple cider vinegar. I also thickened the sauce with a little cornstarch. I also used pre-sliced mushrooms. For only a few cents more than the whole mushrooms I saved few minutes of cooking time!
What resulted was a warm, comfort food style dish. Mo loved it, which is always my goal. We ate it with some wild brown rice and roasted acorn squash. It was the perfect, easy meal for a weeknight fall evening. If you give the recipe a try, let me know what you think! Or share any variations you may have on it!
Enjoy!
Dijon and Mushroom Meatless Naked Chicken Cutlets
Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- 1 Box Quorn Meatless Naked Chicken Cutlets (available at most grocery stores)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 oz pre-sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp cornstarch, prepared in water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large, deep skillet. When the oil is warm, sauté the mushrooms until golden, about 10 minutes.
- Combine the onions and garlic with the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the mustard and tarragon, followed by the vegetable broth, apple cider vinegar, and the prepared corn starch.
- Place the frozen Quorn cutlets into the sauce, and cook according to package directions (about 12 minutes, flipping the cutlets about halfway through).
- Serve with favorite vegetables and rice.
© Amsuing Ames 2016
