Spaghetti With The Opposite of Chicken

This was a spur of the moment creation that my husband and I loved. He said he was daydreaming about a really good vegan chicken parmesan, and when I served this up for dinner, it was that very flavor he'd been craving. (We kind of have hive mind over here.)

Ingredients

• 1 lb whole wheat spaghetti

• 1 jar Classico Tomato & Basil or other vegan pasta sauce

• 1 can diced tomatoes

• 1 green bell pepper

• 1 medium yellow onion

• 5 cloves fresh garlic

• 2 cups chopped mushrooms

• 2-3 tbsps vegetable broth

• 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder

• 1/2 tbsp onion powder

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 package Daring “original daring pieces” or other plant-based substitute for grilled chicken

• Parmela Creamery Plant-Based Mozzarella or other plant-based cheese

Instructions

The Pasta

Put a pot of water on the burner. Add garlic powder, onion powder, and salt, then cover tightly and bring to a boil.

When the water boils add as much whole wheat spaghetti as you think you need.

Stir the spaghetti around to keep it from sticking together as the water returns to a boil, then lower the heat and set a timer for 7 minutes. Stir very frequently.

At 7 minutes, bite into a piece. This should be pretty close to true al dente. If it’s still too tough for you, give it another 1 to 3 minutes, tasting after each minute.

Drain immediately and rinse thoroughly in running water to stop the cooking process.

The Sauce

Chop the pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Mince the garlic. Sauté in a large skillet, using the veggie broth a tablespoon at a time in place of oil.

Cook covered until tender, then stir fry uncovered until the liquid has mostly cooked away and you get a little browning happening. Just a little, you don't want scorched veggie flavor in your sauce.

While the veggies cook, chop the Daring Pieces into smaller pieces (or leave them as they are if you want bigger bites.) In a separate skillet, use a small amount of oil to brown the Daring Pieces just as if they were small bits of cooked chicken. I seasoned mine with salt, onion and garlic and stirred them as they cooked.

Once the veggies are done, pour the whole can of pasta sauce into the skillet with the cooked peppers, onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Open the diced tomatoes and pour them into the spaghetti sauce jar to rinse the sauce off the inside. Swirl the tomatoes around in there, then pour them into the same pan. So now you have a sauce swimming with veggies and mushrooms. Stir over low heat and simmer for a few minutes to mingle the flavors.

I did not put the Daring Pieces (chick'n) into the sauce. They were just such a perfect consistency I didn't want to risk them getting soggy. You don't mess with perfect.

Serve it up!

• Put a large helping of cooked, rinsed spaghetti onto a big dinner plate and heat it in the microwave for about a minute and a half. I like to have the pasta nice and hot.

• Ladle massive quantities of the bubbling hot sauce & veggies on top of the spaghetti.

• Spoon some of the grilled Daring Pieces on top of of the sauce .

• Maybe add a little more sauce.

• Sprinkle the vegan vozzerella on top of that. You can nuke it for another minute to soften the Parmela if you like.

• Grab several napkins.

We had this last night. Heaven. I think it was our favorite vegan meal so far.

I am ashamed to say we ate it so fast, I forgot to take pics. But trust me, we'll have it again soon and I will get photos and update this post.