Celebrate National Chicken Month: Make Vegan Nuggets

September is National Chicken Month, brought to you by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. The purpose of this annual campaign is to get the public to eat, yes, more chicken. This is the 18th year the campaign has run, and it seems to be pretty effective: Last year, brace yourselves, more than 9 billion chickens were slaughtered for consumption in the United States. And you can bet your sweet bippy that the majority of those chickens weren’t raised in the comfiest of conditions.

On the other side of the fence, so to speak, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is countering National Chicken Month with a campaign of their own: Give a Cluck: Chuck the Chicken! You can visit the PETA site to see a whole panoply of frightening factory farm chicken facts that will have you clucking like a mad hen.

So, as you can probably guess, I’m thinking National Chicken Month should best be celebrated in one of two ways. If you are an omnivore, celebrate happy chickens that were raised humanely without the use of antibiotics. Better yet, celebrate National Chicken Month by paying some respect to these “feathered lap dogs” and try some vegan alternatives. On that note, allow me to share this recipe for meatless nuggets.

In this recipe I freeze and then thaw the tofu to beef up (chicken up?) the texture.

INGREDIENTS
1 14-ounce block firm or extra-firm tofu, frozen, thawed, and pressed of excess water
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons mustard
1 clove garlic, minced very finely
1 teaspoon fresh herb of your choice, minced very finely
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional)
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Stir together soy milk, mustard, nutritional yeast in a medium bowl. Stir spices into bread crumbs in another bowl.

2. Slice tofu into 1-inch cubes and dip in wet mix first, then coat with breadcrumbs.

3. Lightly oil a baking pan and bake tofu cubes for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.

Read more: All recipes, Entrees, Food, chicken, nuggets, tofu, vegan

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Dale O.

8:16PM PDT on Apr 30, 2012

To continue with the comment below-until Mother Nature is considerate enough to redesign the current system of eating food-organics eating organics ~ I will have to give up eating rock or stone pate and enjoy my chicken sandwich or whatever while those who choose to be vegan/vegetarian enjoy their tofu or whatever substitutes. Factory farming is for profit and convenience but free range is better. Not perfect but an alternative.

send a green star

8:11PM PDT on Apr 30, 2012

Hmm a month for everything or a special day for coconut, chicken, liver, asparagus or what have you.

Well, sad news, I love chicken especially the free range ones. Chicken month or no chicken month I will continue to eat them. Vegans are always trying to convert the rest of us to their lifestyle and constantly go on about how terrible eating living beings is.
One does tired of being lectured to. Had Mother Nature had been vegan then she would have designed us to subsist solely on inorganic matter such as stones instead of feeding on the death of other living organisms be it meat, veggies and other organic life.

I like chicken and will continue to eat it along with eggs, honey, broccoli--sorry I cut the plant up and enjoyed it instead of letting it grow to seed ending future life of the plants to be.
Spiders are monsters for feeding on living insects, lets slap Mother Nature with a wet noodle.

Even if one is vegan, the land fill is chock full of unused beets, tomatoes and other foods that were not eaten in time leaving greenhouse gases for more global warming. With GMOs grabbing up so much of the veggie and fruit farming industry there are chemicals and other detrimental effects on the soil. GMO seeds replacing heritage seeds leaving many tasteless tomatoes and peas. Unless of course one is lucky to find purely organic farmed veggies/ fruits with no chemicals used--not everyone is able to afford that option.

Until Mother Nature redesigns everything on the plan

No Emails H.

8:04PM PDT on Mar 29, 2012

I give a cluck and chucked chicken 15 years ago. Please everyone become vegetarian and stop the horrific and cruel suffering of sentient animals. No animal deserves to suffer and die to satisfy human hunger. Since becoming vegetarian I have never felt deprived and enjoy better health and look 20 years younger than my age. It is a win-win.

Michele W.

1:56AM PST on Feb 9, 2012

Thank you

Carole R.

7:36PM PST on Nov 14, 2011

Thanks.

Melinda offline K.

1:04AM PDT on Oct 5, 2011

Nice recipe, I might leave out the mustard and use some chinese five spice instead and do it asian style.

Patricia W.

8:51PM PDT on Oct 3, 2011

Sounds really good. I wonder if my husband can tell the difference :) I like tofu - him, not so much.

Jennifer C.

12:45AM PDT on Sep 6, 2011

Yummy recipe. Go Vegan. I love this recipe very much, and will try it out. Thanks for sharing.

colleen p.

5:31PM PDT on May 2, 2011

it is always soy and soy and tofu. why? there is nothing else. it must be hard wanting to be true-vegan and being allergic to soy, wheat, corn. do people have rice allergy? do people with soy allergies have allergy with other legumes?

KS G.

4:57AM PDT on Mar 22, 2011

Thanks for the article.