bennigan's make over

Bennigan's is sort of close to my heart, as much as any casual dining restaurant can be, because I worked there. As a vegan. Not much fun, as I am sure many other vegans who have to serve body parts feel. This is another time around the Irish-wanna-be  establishment. In the first go-around I promised you a Monte Cristo recipe. I lied. I'm not going to take the time to type it up, because, frankly, it is a pretty gross sandwich. Sorry, if I have offended anyone.

The Broccoli Bites over there, however, are pretty good and I recommend them.

What is a MoFo Make over without something buffalo? I've done Buffalo Wild Wings for MoFo V and Pub Grub for MoFo IV, to satisfy the insatiable need for the buffalo spice. For MoFo VI I am recreating Bennigan's Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. Apparently they no longer have the sandwich on the menu, although they are offering it as a salad. Go figure.  

While this is basically the same thing as the other buffalo recipes, this one is just the sauce, nothing but the hot sauce, coating the seitan. No butter, no garlic, nothing else.

I tried making this with tofu, but it wasn't quite as good as with the seitan. Squeezing out the excess moisture of the seitan before frying is necessary because the crust can get soggy. Also, you can fry all the cutlets first and then bake them to re-crunchy-fy them. This used to be served with Bleu Cheese or Ranch Dressing. I went with the Ranch because that is what my kids like. Below is a quick Ranch dressing that I am finally happy with.

Cost Breakdown

seitan:$2

breading: $1

buns: $3

sauce, Ranch: $1.50

condiments: $1

fries: $3

Total to make 4 sandwiches:

$11.50

Their charge per sandwich (guessing) ~ $10.00

Make Over cost per sandwich: $2.86

BUFFALO SEITAN SANDWICH PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

T.G.I. Friday's make over

T.G.I. Friday's is, you guessed it, another casual dining experience, which offers up a bunch of animal-based menu items, with not a vegan meal in sight. Last time I gussied up Friday's, I covered Potato Skins, fried Mac and Cheese, and Jack Daniel's Sesame Chicken. It went well. Now I decided to make over their Dragonfire Chicken. I'm a sucker for cool-sounding menu names, and this one had me all fired up. 

This chicken dish is Friday's low-calorie item, although it still comes in at around 750 calories. I'm not here to fix calorie content, however, so that is not the issue. It's the dead animal on the plate that I'm gearing to replace. Back to the dish. It is marinated in a sweet, parsley-jalapeno sauce, grilled, topped with their spicy kung pao sauce and served with pineapple pico de gallo, mandarin oranges and rice. What? No cheese? Don't all casual dinning restaurants smother everything in cheese? Not this one; which probably accounts for the lower calorie content.

Since the chicken is marinated, I looked to tofu as the replacement. I pressed the tofu (with a Tofu Xpress) for a little amount of time before marinating it in the first of two sauces. The tofu soaked up enough of the marinade to make it matter. I grilled the tofu, spread some of the second sauce over the top and served it up with the pico de gallo. 

This sounds like a simple dish, and it is, but it is packed with flavor. From the marinade all the way to the pico de gallo, this dish packs a punch. The marinade is sweet, the sauce is deliciously spicy and the tartness of the pico makes for one harmonious plate. This is a great dish. The rice is an appropriate choice to balance all the loud flavors, and it is even served with some broccoli.

Cost Breakdown

tofu: $2

rice: $1

pineapple, tomato, lime, cilantro, onion: $3

oranges, parsley, jalapeno: $.75

oil, sugar, vinegar, tamari, garlic, ginger: $2

broccoli: $3

Total for 4 servings:

$11.75

Their cost per serving: $7.99

Make Over cost per serving: $2.95

DRAGONFIRE TOFU PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE