Sometimes you have a need for something so specific that you just can’t let it go. It happens to all of us, I think, and at any rate it happened to me recently. I really felt like having a chicken sandwich which has proven to be pretty much an empty wish in Romania. In Germany there were plenty of vegan schnitzel options and even a Qorn brand vegan ‘chicken’ breast.
But here there was no such luck so I had to improvise.
At first I was feeling brave and inspired, thinking I would just mash-up a bunch of vegetables into a patty, bread it, fry and voila homemade vegan sandwiches. It was a nice dream while it lasted, anyway. But on a trip to Kaufland they actually had firm tofu and I remembered a recipe I’d recently saved to my Plant Based Plate Pinterest page. I grabbed American style hamburger buns with sesame seeds and because I was trying so hard to be a good little healthy woman, I skipped over the thought of potatoes and opted for vegetables.
Cole Slaw is my jam. Always has been going back to the days where me and KFC were on a first name basis and as soon as I discovered a plain vegan yogurt that I liked, it went back into the meal rotation. I used red and green cabbage, scallions (because I didn’t have shallots), red bell pepper, fresh dill and parsley, lime juice, cumin, paprika and fresh pressed garlic. Oh and mustard. Spicy mustard or whatever you prefer really because you have to eat it. Put the veggies in a bowl and in a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, mustard, herbs and spices until blended and toss with vegetables. If you make a lot like I did, add the dressing in 3 separate batches until it is all coated.
Set aside or chill if you prefer.
The tofu is a little more time consuming but still pretty easy. You need two bowls one for the vegan egg and milk soak and another for the flour, cornstarch, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper coating. How you proceed from here is a matter of preference. You can dip it in the liquid, into the flour and then straight into 1 to 2 tbsp. of oil to fry up. OR you can double dip it for an extra bit of crispness. I added a few tablespoons of flaked coconut to the flour mixture for extra crunch.
I set out mustard, ketchup and leftover yogurt for condiments for the sandwiches and washed it down with an ice col Ciuc.
As you can see, they came out pretty crispy and the skin didn’t fall off until I was a little heavy handed with the spatula. You need a light touch when flipping over the patties or else you’ll peel that breading right off. Also don’t be afraid to turn down the heat if they’re cooking too fast. You want a golden brown crisp not a black too crunchy mess.
the-spicy-spatula.com 
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