Recipe
made/modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 23, 2011
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commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.
Skillet-Baked
Panko Cutlets, Italian “Sausage” Cutlets and Garlic Mashers recipes published
in Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson.
So a
while back, my husband and I decided we were going to try to eat more
vegetables.
*Pffft…
yeah right.
I
began looking for more green and colored vegetables in side dishes, but never
seemed to find things that went together.
Then I had a flash of brilliance – I should start looking for vegetarian
entrees. It worked and now my husband
looks forward to our veggie nights. I
think it’s because I have to be creative and you rely on herbs and spices to
bring out the flavor in your food… not fat from meat.
Now
don’t think I’m going to stop eating meat.
I love my burgers WAAAAAY too much to do that, but we did decide to bump
up the vegetarian meals to two nights a week.
Good for us and I was doing a lot of patting myself on the back for
trying to get us eating healthier even if it is only one night a week.
Then I
had my eyes opened.
I have
a couple of relatives that are vegans.
Vegans are individuals that eat nothing animal based, including milk,
butter and eggs. Some don’t even eat
honey. Let that information sink in and
give it some thought. Those are the
staples to MANY dishes and I couldn’t comprehend how to bake without eggs. Listening to them talk about the types of
meals they prepare intrigued me and then I stumbled upon a book called Vegan
Diner by Julie Hasson. She turned many
comfort foods (mac & cheese, pancakes, grilled cheese) into vegan meals.
I had
to have that book.
It’s
been sitting on my shelf for a while now, but I’ve decided to really push this
blog ahead full time, so I decided it was time.
A
couple of things before we start…
First,
just because a meal is vegan doesn’t mean it is (a) healthy or (b) diet
friendly. There are plenty of ways to
make foods calorie and fat heavy that don’t include animal based
ingredients. Also, you’d be surprised at
the sodium levels of many dishes.
Second,
you’ll notice that one of the recipes in the top line is called Italian
“Sausage” Cutlets. I put those quotes
around sausage, not the author. I fully
respect people who believe in the vegan way of life, but I’m slightly put off
by people calling vegan faux-meats, well… meats. Don’t get the impression that you’re going to
chomp into the cutlet and scream, “OH MY WORD!
IT’S LIKE I’M EATING A SAUSAGE PATTY FROM THE BUTCHER!”
Nope,
not gonna happen.
The
cutlet you make for this dish is tasty substitute to meat and I didn’t eat it
thinking, “Man I wish I had some sausage right now”. It was quite the opposite. I was thinking, “Yeah, I’m enjoying this dish
and not wishing it was something else.”
However, it certainly doesn’t have the taste or consistency of a meat
sausage patty. My husband only read the
title of the main meal “Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets” and said he appreciated
that I wasn’t trying to make him think he was eating meat. He’s a grown up and has an open mind to try
different things.
And
that’s all I really ask.
Finally,
a vegan dish is not something you can make on the fly if you’ve never made
vegan dishes before and especially if you haven’t made mock meats. You’re going to need some special
ingredients, so do a little research and plan on making it a couple weeks
out. Give yourself plenty of time and
most of all, keep an open mind.
Let’s
get to the food, shall we?
 |
© You Want Me to Cook?
Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets with Garlic Mashers |
Take
a good look at this picture and try to forget about the fact that it is a faux
meat under the delicately breaded and browned panko, delicious looking sauce
and oozing mozzarella veggie shreds.
Doesn’t it look delicious? And it
is delicious!
The
book does have a picture, but they don’t have any images available on-line to
link to (I hate copying pictures and putting them on my blog without linking to
the individual/book/blog/website for the credit), so you’ll have to take my
word on this… it looks very similar.
