Once upon a time, I made Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Dip. And it was goooooood. Very good. I've taken it to potlucks and had nobody figure out it was meatless, even.
Whoops.
Did I just admit I fed people something crunchy and vegetarian without them knowing it? SORRY!
(Not sorry.)
That led to the decision to experiment with BBQ Chicken recipes. If I can leave the chicken out of one thing, surely I can do it again, right? Right. Well, mostly right anyway, because cream cheese and such just weren't going to cut it this time. This time I needed to employ my friend Beyond.
It worked!
(This sauce could very easily be used for a traditional BBQ Chicken recipe. If you go that way, double the recipe and use one pound of chicken. Either precook the chicken or cook it for much longer as described below because vegetarian "chicken" is precooked and there's not that pesky salmonella risk.)
(Vegetarian) BBQ Chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package Beyond Grilled Strips
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
3 tablespoons zesty Italian dressing
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Buns
1. Skillet time! The Beyond Grilled Strips are precooked, but I think they're happier when you toss them in a skillet with some olive oil and brown them lightly on all sides. So, do that. Throw the onion in with them so that it has a chance to sauté as well.
2. Toss the BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar into a small crockpot or saucepan. I don't much care which one you use because things will turn out the same. Stir to mix everything up.
3. When the Beyond Grilled Strips and onion are cooked, toss them in with the sauce. If you went with the crockpot, high for one hour is plenty. If you went for the saucepan, turn the heat on low, toss a lid on things, and let everything simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Yaaaay for cutting a whole lot of fat and such out of a tailgate favorite!
