Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Two years ago I felt really lucky. I got to try this new product at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary's ThanksLiving event. The new product: Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips. They were incredible and even more incredible was that the dinner was prepared by the amazing Terry Hope Romero.

Beyond Meat was not available for purchase then and I felt so lucky to get to experience this product that is the closest thing to chicken as you can get without it being chicken. The next year I got to have it again at ThanksLiving and again I couldn't wait for Beyond Meat to be sold in stores.

Well, now Beyond Meat is available in stores all over the country. You can buy Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips in Whole Foods and lots of restaurants and markets are offering it in prepared dishes. Unfortunately, none of these places are near me. I went from being one of the first people to eat it to one of the last who could buy it. :(

Until my local market sells Beyond Meat, I figured I had to take some initiative. I wrote to Beyond Meat and asked if The "V" Word could have a promotional sample so I could cook with it and blog about it. And guess what? The UPS man brought a box of Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips to my door!

I got 3 different flavors: Lightly Seasoned, Grilled and Southwestern. Now all I needed was a special recipe to showcase these delicious chicken-free strips. I didn't want to bury them in a wrap or chop them up into a stew or salad. I wanted to really highlight the strips so I decided to make Chicken-Free Satay with a Peanut Dipping Sauce.

OMG!! We are talking layers of yumminess. These amazing, flavorful chicken doppelgangers are covered in a marinade of sweet, salty, spicy and citrus and grilled to a caramelized perfection. That same marinade gets incorporated with coconut milk and peanut butter into a dipping sauce that is rich and creamy. Satay is often served with pickled cucumbers and I also made brown rice seasoned with garam masala and some steamed collard greens. It was a festive and fun meal. I believe Tom said it was "amazing" and maybe something about my "outdoing" myself.

If you, like me, are nowhere near a Whole Foods and can't get Beyond Meat just yet, you can make this same recipe using tofu or seitan. But if you can buy Beyond Meat, buy it!!! Beyond Meat is a major advancement in the evolution of vegan prepared foods and it's certainly going to make it easier for more people to choose meat-free options. And it's gluten-free!! 

So far I've only used the one type of Beyond Meat for this recipe. I'm looking forward to creating other delicious dishes with the two I have left but I don't want to use them up too fast because who knows when I'll get more? In the meantime, my Chicken-Free Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce was a great way to christen my first time cooking with Beyond Meat. Enjoy!

Chicken-Free Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

For the Marinade:

1/3 cup low sodium, gluten-free tamari

3 Tbs. toasted sesame oil

Zest and juice of 1 lime

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. turmeric

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. Kosher salt

½ tsp. black pepper

A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional) 

For the Peanut Dipping Sauce:
1/3 cup coconut milk
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup reserved marinade
½ cup water

For the Satay:
1 package (12 oz.) Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Strips
Canola oil, for the grill
Fresh parsley and lime wedges for garnish

Soak the bamboo skewers in warm water for about 20 minutes. One package of Chicken-Free Strips will make about 8 satay. While they are soaking, prepare the marinade. Combine all ingredients for the marinade and whisk until smooth. Separate 1/3 cup of the marinade and set aside to use in the dipping sauce.

Prepare the dipping sauce by combining the peanut butter, coconut milk and the reserved 1/3 cup of marinade. Whisk well, adding water until the sauce is the consistency you want. I added about ½ cup of water. I wanted it on the thinner side. Refrigerate until ready to use. The sauce will taste different after it’s been refrigerated for a while. Better. It will taste a lot better. The flavors need time to develop and mingle.

To prepare the skewers, carefully skewer 2 chicken-free strips on each skewer. Do it slowly to ensure it doesn’t tear the strip. Lay the skewers in a long bowl or dish and pour the marinade over them. Make sure each is thoroughly coated using a pastry brush. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray or brush some canola oil on the grill so the food doesn’t stick. Grill each satay skewer for 5-6 minutes, turning it so it gets grilled on all sides. Garnish with parsley and lime wedges. Serve with dipping sauce.

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