Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Vegan Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich

Whew! My schedule was really screwed up today, so I didn't get a chance to log on really quick at lunchtime and do my posting like I normally do. But as you can see, I ended up bringing a vegan chicken sandwich made with one of those Boca Chik'n Patties that I had been searching for. I have FINALLY located a good local grocery chain that carries them, and they are even on sale this week! They normally are $3.28 a box (there are 4 patties in each box) at this store, but this week, they're only $2.50 a box. Needless to say, I bought a bunch. I just left the top part of the whole wheat bun off for photgraphic purposes. After I took the pic I replaced the top of the sandwich and closed the lid of the lunchbox with no problem.

I eat a lot of these things, and I normally eat them with Vegenaise & pickles. Today though, I brought something to put on my sandwich that I only recently figured out. I'm sure lots of other people already do this, but I had never seen it mentioned before so I kinda' had to "invent" it for myself. I always like honey mustard with my chicken (be it a sandwich, a nugget or whatever) back when I was an omnivore so I got to thinking, "How could I make honey mustard without using any honey?" After a few minutes of thinking, the answer became obvious: Maple Syrup! I just mixed some spicy brown mustard with some maple syrup and lo and behold it tastes just like honey mustard. I guess you should probably really call it a maple-mustard sauce, but I just like calling it Vegan Honey Mustard, since that's how I think of it.

Like I said, most people have probably already thought of this, and I guess the whole maple syrup and mustard flavor is really a common one in cooking. I think there is even a recipe for green beans in my favorite cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, that uses the maple and mustard flavors. I need to check into that, because I really like the flavor of these two ingredients when you mix them together.

To go along with the sandwich I threw in some more of those steamed mixed vegetables, some raw baby carrots and the last of that little bag of dates that I had in the fridge.

So today's lunch ended up being really delicious as well as extremely easy to prepare. All I really had to do was squirt a little mustard in the little blue lunchbox container and then pour in a little maple syrup and mix it all up. Everything else was really easy. In fact, I have discovered that with the steamed vegetables, they come out just fine if you just pack them in your lunchbox while still frozen. They'll probably thaw out on their own before you eat lunch, and a simple zap in the microwave for a minute or two is all that's required to finish them off.

Oh, and for future reference, the little lunchbox dressing container holds MORE than enough vegan honey mustard for one sandwich. I ended up drowning my sandwich with the stuff. It was quite messy, but oh so good. And the container was still half full, even after that. I had been worried that the little container was going to be too small, but boy was I wrong.

So I guess that's it for Wednesday's lunch.

Thanks for reading my blog and I'll see everybody tomorrow!
STEAMED MIXED VEGETABLESDATESVEGAN HONEY MUSTARDBOCA CHIK'N SANDWICHRAW BABY CARROTSFORK & SPOON

17 comments:

SallyT said...

I wonder if you could put the rest of the "honey" mustard on the veggies or would everything taste too much the same?

kennyboy said...

I don't know. I bet it would probably taste good on almost anything, except chocolate. Hehehehe

I ended up dipping my carrots in it, but I guess it would be good on the other veggies too if there's a recipe out there for maple-mustard green beans. I wonder thought too, like you, if that would be a bit much.

I think next time I'll only make half a container full.

:o)

kennyboy said...

I meant to type "though", NOT thought.

I wish you could edit these comments.

:o(

Anonymous said...

That green bean potato recipe in VwaV is the best thing ever!!!

kennyboy said...

I bet you could use either one. Plain yellow mustard would probably give you something like the Texas Pete honey mustard and I think Dijon would give you something more like Hickory Farms honey mustard. I used French's Spicy Brown Mustard and it was yummy.

Boca has a finder at their website (www.bocaburger.com) where you can just type in your zip code and they'll tell you who's got 'em. That's how I finally located them.

:o)

shebytches said...

my day isn't complete till I've seen what you had for lunch :)

no I'm being serious! I'm officially addicted to your blog.

xo carolina

NightOwl said...

Hey Ken,

Have you tried Agave Nectar? It's a perfect honey substitute. It comes either raw or amber or light. It's fantastic. I can't live without the stuff. Dissolves great in anything, and, unlike honey, it's low glycemic, so it won't screw up your blood sugar! You can find it in most health food stores. Let me know what you think if you try it.

Laura said...

I like to mix dijon mustard with veganaise and agave nectar for a creamy "honey" mustard sauce like a lot of restaurants, serve. I usually add a little hot sauce, just for something different. Mmmmm

Anonymous said...

Oh, yum! Another way to use the Chik'n Patties that I will have to try!

The maple syrup sounds great but I do use a honey substitute called "Just Like Honey Rice Nectar" by Suzanne's Specialties so I think I'll use this first with a stone ground mustard that I have in the fridge.

Love this blog!

Ms. Meander said...

in your bento box, do each of those little containers come with their own separate lid? i'm considering getting them for my daughters and i since we love to pack bento lunches. i like that this one is less cutesy than the typical Japanese boxes, which my older daughter especially wouldn't be caught dead with. now...if only they make the box in black and red, we'll be in business.

kennyboy said...

thanks shebytches! I'm addicted to doing it so it all works out good.
:o)

Apparently there is an agave nectar club here that I didn't know about. Hahaha. I have never tried it before, but I have seen lots of references to it on other vegan websites. I guess I need to try it, especially if it's low glycemic. If so many people here like it, then it's probably something I need to try. Thanks for all the info!

Hey Melanie, the only containers that have a lid are the big red one and the little blue one for dressing. I pack things in the other containers all the time that need lids, but I just use that Glad Press-n-Seal and make my own lids that way. I think they do offer a couple of different color combos on www.laptoplunches.com, but I don't think red & black are one of them. :o(

kennyboy said...

Does agave nectar cost more or less than maple syrup?

Ms. Meander said...

kenny, they have the agave stuff at the Natural Foods Market in town. i'm dropping off an order of soap there today, i'll peek and see what the pricing comparison is.

Ms. Meander said...

ok, i'm back from dropping off my soaps at Natural Foods, and I can report that the agave nectar is pretty close to honey in price. for a container of equal volume, it was roughly a dollar more for the agave. it's similar in color, and it appears to be somewhere in between honey and maple syrup in terms of how liquid-y it is.

kennyboy said...

Thanks for checking Melanie. I am planning on going there this weekend to pick up a few things that I need. I'll probably grab some agave nectar too.

I am also now planning on picking up some of your soap. I just finished looking at your website. Looks like it will be easy for me to pick one that doesn't have honey in it. That chocolate cake or brownie type has me really interested.

:o)

Ms. Meander said...

hi kenny, yeah, none of my soaps contain any animal ingredients at all except for the ONE fragrance - the honeyed amber - which contains a bit of real honey. all of my other soaps are made entirely of olive oil with a bit of marshmallow root for soothing. (hence the company name, Althaea Soaps, which is latin for marshmallow plant). even the chocolate cake soap, which has buttery and creamy notes to the fragrance, are aromatic compounds that are not derived from actual animal products. (actually the scent molecules are derived from vanilla beans and cantaloupe, strangely enough)

kennyboy said...

COOL!

I'm getting some this weekend!