The other night I was craving chicken nuggets, but when you have many food intolerances (egg, gluten, soy), this limits the junk-food items. When these cravings happen, you learn to become creative! Earlier this year, I came across Squirrel Tempeh, which is SOY FREE! Crazy, right? Their product is 99% beans and lentils and 1% “mycelium” which is the mushroom that binds the beans together. It is so easy to slice and won’t fall apart like some other brands we have tried.
Have you tried air frying yet?
I’m a bit late to the whole air frying party, but air fryers work by circulating hot air to make your food nicely crispy. In short, they give you deep-fried food, with none of the deep frying. Win-win, right?
For most things, you only need a minimal amount of oil to get the same results as deep fat frying. Better still, some dishes can be made in an air fryer with no oil at all – like this vegan Kale Salad and “Chicken” Nuggets made from soy-free tempeh.
Kale Salad and “Chicken” Nuggets
Makes 2 servings
Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Plant Based
What You’ll Need
Nuggets
1 pack of Tempeh (I used this brand – soy free!)
3 tablespoons of Chickpea Flour
1 tbsp almond meal
1 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
1/2 teaspoon of Celery Salt
2 tbsp + 1 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Almond Milk, unsweetened
Kale Salad
4 cups baby kale or curly kale, chopped
juice of 2 lemons
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
4 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 tbsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste
What You’ll Need To Know
Nuggets
Slice up your Tempeh into medium-sized chunks (about 1/2 inch)
Mix your Chickpea Flour, Almond Meal, Cayenne, Smoked, Paprika, 2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast, and Celery salt together.
Dip your Tempeh into the Almond milk then coat with the flour mix, then back into the milk quickly and coat with nutritional yeast.
Repeat this for all of the strips.
Sprinkle a little extra Celery salt over at the end.
Bake Method: Bake in your oven at 355F for 15 mins or until crispy.
Air Fryer Method: Air Fry for 12 mins at 355F.
Kale Salad
In a mixing bowl, add in all of your ingredients, and mix well.
Plate, serve and enjoy!
