Fried Chicken/Seitan, Collard Greens, and Cornbread

This week's meal plan had a somewhat nebulous 'Southern Food' in place for Sunday, but we had a vague idea of what we wanted to do. Fried Chicken/Seitan, definitely, mashed potatoes or cornbread, and some sort of vegetable side, probably greens.

In the end, we came up with a menu of buttermilk fried chicken (seitan for me), cornbread, and collard greens. The cornbread recipe came right off the box of corn meal (with the addition of some canned corn and fresh chopped jalapenos). The Fried chicken we made by soaking seitan chunks and skinless, boneless chicken breasts in buttermilk for as long as possible, then tossing in a mixture of flour and seasonings (cayenne, paprika, salt & pepper) to coat, letting the coated pieces sit for a few minutes, then frying them in vegetable oil in our Fry Daddy. For the collard greens, I turned to the internet to find a recipe.

Dan reported that the collard greens (which he was leery of after trying them a couple times elsewhere and not enjoying them), were delicious. And he devoured the fried chicken. My fried chicken style seitan was great, and definitely satisfied the craving for fried chicken. Dan tasted it and liked it, too. The cornbread recipe needs a little adjusting, I think, since the corn adds some moisture that I should've reduced from the quantity of water, probably. It was good, but not as solid as I would've liked.



Kickin' Collard Greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 pound fresh collard greens, cut into 2-inch pieces

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and return to the pan. Add onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until just fragrant. Add collard greens, and fry until they start to wilt. Pour in chicken broth, and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until greens are tender.

(Collard Green recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com.)