Vegan Roast Chicken
A hearty vegan roast chicken that is ultra tender, sliceable and full of flavour. If you thought going vegan meant giving up on meals like this, think again. This recipe is perfect for any winter feast, and leftovers are great in sandwiches too!
ingredients
For the Seitan Dough
- 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten
- 10 oz extra firm tofu
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 4 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 12 cups vegetable broth
- 2 sheets yuba or rice paper
For the Marinade
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons cranberry sauce
To Serve
- 3 carrots - (peeled and sliced)
- 4 shallots - (peeled and sliced)
- 7 oz new potatoes
- 4 springs rosemary
- 1 orange - (sliced)
instructions
To Prepare the Seitan
- Place the vital wheat gluten in a large bowl and set aside.
- Crumble the tofu into a blender. Add water, oil, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, and poultry seasoning, and process until perfectly smooth.
- Scoop the mixture into the vital wheat gluten. Combine with a spatula until a ball of dough begins to form.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead vigorously for 4-5 minutes. This is crucial to develop the gluten (see notes above). You can test the dough by stretching it. If it tears easily, more kneading is required.
- Cut the dough into 4 pieces and shape each of them into a small oval "chicken breast" fillet.
- Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a clean surface and place a roughly crumpled piece of yuba, slightly larger than the fillet, in the centre. Place the fillet on top of the yuba, smooth side down so it's in contact with the yuba. Fold the sides of the greaseproof paper over and wrap tightly. Repeat with all the remaining seitan.
- Place the tightly wrapped seitan chicken "breasts" into a steamer. A bamboo or an electric steamer will work fine. Steam for 1 hour.
- Once steamed, remove the seitan chicken breasts from the steamer and without unwrapping, leave to cool for at least 20 minutes. While the seitan chicken cools, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and make the marinade.
To Make the Marinade
- Place all the ingredients in a blender with 4 tablespoon water. Blend on high speed for 10 seconds.
- Unwrap the cooled seitan chicken breasts and place in a bowl or roasting tin. Pour over half of the marinade. Carefully stir to make sure the marinade covers all of the seitan cover and leave to marinate while you roast the vegetables.
To Roast
- Place the vegetables in a medium bowl. Pour over half of the remaining marinade. Toss to coat the vegetables. Transfer the prepared vegetables and herbs into a roasting tin or a cast iron skillet. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the seitan chicken breasts from the marinade. Remove the vegetables form the oven, give them a stir and top them with the marinated seitan chicken. Place in the oven and continue to roast for a further 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, check on the vegetables and seitan. The seitan chicken should be nicely browned on the surface. Use a pastry brush to apply more of the remaining marinade to the seitan and return everything to the oven for a final 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley before serving with gravy and a few slices of orange.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @spoonfulofkindness on Instagram or hashtag #spoonfulofkindness!