Fried chicken.

Greasy, crunchy, crispy, tender, finger lickin’ good fried chicken.

I may be a vegetarian, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss munching on fried chicken outdoors during summer barbeques while piling my plate with mashed potatoes and coleslaw and swatting away mosquitoes.

But seriously, my blood must be a tasty treat. Those mosquitoes can’t get enough of me.

And I can’t get enough of this fried chicken recipe. VEGAN fried chick’n that is.

I wish I could take the credit, but this genius creation came from Roberto Martin, the personal chef to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. I was lucky enough to get to interview him for an article at work and was blown away by his cookbook, Vegan Cooking For Carnivores.

The one recipe I couldn’t stop obsessing over was for southern fried chick’n. Turns out he came up with it when Oprah (yes OPRAH!) was coming over for dinner. If ever one needed motivation to come up with a vegan version of a recipe I’m pretty sure having Oprah for dinner would do the trick.

So, without further ado, here’s my take on his recipe.

Finger Lickin’ Fried Chick’n

Makes 8 pieces

Ingredients:

1½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp King of all Seasons Seven Seasons or an all-purpose seasoning of your choice

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 Tbsp salt

2 cups raw cashews**

2½ cups water

3 Tbsp Tabasco sauce

2 10oz packages frozen Gardein Chick’n Scallopini, defrosted

1 package spring roll wrappers

safflower oil

**Overnight (or 1 hour prior) prep required for the cashews.

Directions:

To get started you’ll want to prep all of the ingredients.

The cashews need to soak overnight or (if like me you forget to do that) you can bring them to a boil and then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for an hour. Add the cashews and water to a blender and mix until a creamy liquid. Transfer 2 cups of the mixture to a medium size bowl. Add in the Tabasco sauce and mix.

In another medium size bowl combine the flour, Chef Paul spice, garlic powder, seasoning, onion powder, and salt.

Take each chick’n patty and roll into a smaller oval shape.

Now it’s time to put on the “skin.”

Put about 1 cup of warm water in a large frying pan. Very carefully so as to not break or rip it, take one of the spring roll wrappers and soak in the water for 20 seconds or so.

Remove and lay on a flat surface, adding a little water to help soften and flatten the wrapper. Take a chick’n patty and place just below the center of the wrapper.

Fold the end of the wrapper closest to you over the patty.

Fold over the left side of the wrapper. Repeat with the right side.

Roll the patty away from you until it is completely bundled in the wrapper. Set aside and repeat with all of the patties.

Once all of the patties are finished you can dress the “skin.”

Sprinkle a little of the flour mixture on a baking sheet so that the whole sheet is lightly dusted.

Take a patty and roll it in the flour mixture. Then dunk in the cashew liquid. Roll again in the flour and place on the baking sheet. Repeat with each patty.

Things may get a little messy.

Place a frying pan on medium-high heat. Add enough safflower oil to cover almost half of the chick’n patty.  I chose to cook 2 patties at a time, but I was also working without tongs. If using tongs I would suggest cooking 4 patties at a time. And I would also suggest using tongs if possible.

Cook each side of the patties for about 1 minute or until crispy and slightly browned.

Serve and get ready to be blown away.  I may have found my new favorite go-to vegan dish. Takes a bit of prep, but SO worth it.

I recommend serving with a side or two for the whole shebang. Ham made some rosemary potatoes (the ones from the farmer’s market!) to go along with the dish.

Such an easy and delicious side. Dice some potatoes and throw in a frying pan along with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper and cook on low-medium heat until tender (about 10-15 mins).

Bring on summer BBQ season! This vegetarian is ready for more excuses to eat fried chick’n. : )

**Please note my recipe varies slightly from Roberto’s. I changed a couple ingredients and my cook time is a bit different. However, this was all his creation. If you want the original recipe as well as dozens of other mouth watering delicacies go buy his book!!