Vegan Chicken Florentine with soycurls
This vegan Florentine features soycurls simmered with fresh spinach in a creamy garlic cashew sauce to create a delicious and filling dish that tastes amazing on cauliflower steak, pasta, or as a sandwich filling! Plant-based, Glutenfree and family-friendly
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 3 oz dried soy curls
- 2 teaspoon oil
- 2 cups chicken flavor broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons corn starch or tapioca starch
For the cream sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 oz quartered white or cremini mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon mirin or ¼ cup of white wine
- ¾ cup raw cashews see note for Nutfree
- 2 cups water or broth
- 2 teaspoons yellow miso chickpea miso for Soyfree
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt , less or more based on salt content of the liquid in the recipe
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon pepper flakes
- 1 cup frozen spinach or a mix of frozen and fresh baby spinach (5-6 oz)
- Pepper flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Soak your soy curls in warmed chicken flavor stock for 15 minutes. You can use 4 ounces to make a really thick dish; I prefer to use 3 oz as the soy curls absorb a lot of water,
- Once they have soaked, drain but do not dispose of the stock, reserve it for later. Press lightly while draining to remove excess moisture.
- Then put it in a bowl and add the salt, black pepper and corn starch to the soy curls, mix well to coat and set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet. once hot add the soy curls and cook until the soy curls are golden on the edges. Then transfer them to a plate.
- Make the sauce: blend the cashews, water and miso until they are very smooth. I usually blend it for 1 minute then let it sit for 5 minutes and blend again. Repeat this 2-3 times until the cashews are blended well.
- Heat the vegan butter in the same large skillet. Once hot add the onion, garlic and cook until the onion are starting to turn golden. Add the mushrooms and mix in.
- Cook for a 3-4 minutes. If mushrooms are starting to dry out add a splash of water. Once the mushrooms are starting to turn golden add the white wine or mirin, and mix in.
- Then add blended cashews into the skillet and add the nutritional yeast, parsley, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes and mix in. Let the cashew cream come to a boil and starts to thicken.
- Add the spinach and mix in. Taste and adjust salt and flavor.
- Add in the soy curls, mix in and bring to a good simmer. Soy curls will absorb a lot of liquid and the cream might thicken a lot. Add in your reserved broth, ¼ cup at a time to thin it out to preferences and once it has simmered for a minute consistently, switch it off and take off the heat.
- Garnish with pepper flakes and serve with noodles/pasta, baked potato, grilled or seared cauliflower steak.
- You can also make sandwiches with the florentine. Once the sauce has thickened it makes great Open faced or grilled sandwiches. Or add it to a pita bread or wrap, the options are endless.
Video
Notes
To make this without soy, use other vegan chicken of choice or seitan. You don’t need to soak those options in the stock, just toss them with the salt, pepper and corn starch and crisp them a little bit then continue with the rest of the recipe.
You can also make this with ingredients like tempeh or chickpeas. add more mushrooms to balance out the overall flavor and texture. Use Chickpea miso for Soyfree miso.
To make this Nutfree: add 2 tablespoons flour to the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Then add in 1/2 cup unsweetened non dairy milk and mix in until the flour mixes in. Then add 1.5 cups non dairy milk and cook to thicken.
You can also sub the cashew cream with 5 oz silken tofu , or 1/3 cup vegan cream cheese and blend with the water. Onion garlic free: Omit the onion and garlic. Use chopped zucchini instead of onion. Add 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1 teaspoon miso instead of garlic Oilfree: Bake the soycurls at 400 deg f for 15-20 mins. Use broth to sauté the onion and mushroom and proceed Mushroom free: omit the mushrooms and add 1 oz more soycurls and 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
You can also sub the cashew cream with 5 oz silken tofu , or 1/3 cup vegan cream cheese and blend with the water. Onion garlic free: Omit the onion and garlic. Use chopped zucchini instead of onion. Add 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1 teaspoon miso instead of garlic Oilfree: Bake the soycurls at 400 deg f for 15-20 mins. Use broth to sauté the onion and mushroom and proceed Mushroom free: omit the mushrooms and add 1 oz more soycurls and 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
Nutrition
Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 698mg | Potassium: 483mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 746IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 4mg