Curried Veggie Chicken with Naan and Salad

I was so hungry and lazy last night. My almost bare fridge gave me little hope, but then I thought about being a kid and eating Indian-style fried chicken with naan and salad.

CHICKEN! WHAT THE?!
No, no... I don't eat chicken now. I have a seriously good substitution for it though, PC Blue Menu Mediterranean Meatless Chicken Strips. Now, while they're mildly marinated in some Mediterranean garbage, the amount of seasoning I add to my cooking eliminates all that. It's only 3.99 in Toronto. I remember it being 5.99 in Ottawa. Why? No clue. You get a better deal too compared to the Yves brand veggie chicken strips because they're like 4.99? and have less quantity and a dry texture. Processed soy products are awesome because they're so healthy. Especially for those people that think vegetarians aren't getting their B12, this stuff is chalk full of it. And iron too. There's little to no (bad) fat either. It's a staple in my diet. So yeah, these products come in many variations and all deliver quality, healthy, and tasty results. Beat that, meat!

So I pull out a bag of those (side note: my only complaint is the packaging. Why give me a bag within a bag?) and some pre-made naan that I found at No Frills for like $2.00. You get 10 slices too. So I only use like 60 cents worth of it for one meal. I also wanted a salad with lemon juice/vinegar dressing. All I had was baby carrots and pre-washed organic baby romaine lettuce. At first, I loved the convenience of the bag salads, because washing lettuce is a pain, but these seem to go bad SO fast and you should still wash them. Really, who knows where that stuff has been.

On Naan
It's called Naan people, never call it "nan bread." It is insulting to my ears. There are two As for a reason. And it's like saying "bread bread." So dumb. Naan is really good heated up in the toaster oven. You can find naan at any grocery store. Don't buy that PC brand naan, that is weird and expensive. The brand I got was Mogulai. I don't even know if that's Indian. Sometimes I buy greek pitas, the thick kind, because it's almost the same.

Here's what it ended up looking like:


FOR CHICKEN:

1 Package PC Blue Menu Mediterranean Meatless Strips
1 Tsp of masala
1 Tsp of chili powder
1 Tsp of turmeric
1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil

Pour oil onto fry pan, then add chicken and spices. Cook for like 10 minutes or when food is hot.

1/2 bag of Naan

SALAD (quantity varies, depending on how much salad you want):

Lettuce
Carrots
5 second squeeze Lemon juice
2 cap-fulls of Vinegar
1 tsp salt

The dressing is classic and perfectly accompanies Indian food (and Ethiopian, I noticed). Grate the carrots, much better that way.

So just eat the chicken and salad with the naan, no need for forks (unless you think you can't handle it).

MY SPICE TIN:


MASALA! QUE PASSA?!
I am not too well-versed on the subject, but my masala comes from South Africa. It's more orangey. Most Indian people cooking with garam masala, but I don't like it as much as this special South African stuff I got. Take a field trip to Little India sometime and weigh out your options. Some people make their own masala, but for the lazy-ass in me, it ain't gonna happen. Plus I get mine for free from my mom.

Also make sure to use chili powder not curry powder. I don't know what curry powder is.

Well, anyway, this entry took me like an hour to write and I am sure I can still blab on. The meal last night, however, took me.... a maximum of 12 minutes to make. Try it, you'll love it and wished you ate it as a kid.