I almost never would’ve come up with this one. I don’t think I’ve ever actually even eaten chicken parm. Who needs it when there’s eggplant, right? And eggplant parm has always been a weakness. Growing up, it was my dish. What on earth else could a vegetarian order at a normal restaurant in the mid-nineties. Eggplant parm was a long time trusty sidekick. So of course it’s been on my list of things to veganize and blog for a while. Then the other day my husband suggested I try veganizing chicken parm, and it got me thinking. While eggplant will always have a place in my heart, this is different, this is vegan chicken Parmesan, and it’s pretty darn incredible. Normally when I make something like this I coat it in panko to get a nice crispy crust. Lucky for me I got the idea in my head to try making these cutlets gluten free, so I went with cornmeal instead, both in the mixture and the coating. It was way better. Cornmeal on the inside helped give the mixture just the right texture, while cornmeal on the outside crusts up perfectly when pan-fried in a bit of olive oil. I parmefied this dish by simply throwing on some marinara and sprinkling with cashew cheese. Feel free to put your own spin on it though. If you’re into store-bought vegan cheese, throw some on top. This would also be nice with some cashew ricotta. I ate my chickpea parm over pasta, but next time I’m definitely shoving it into a sandwich.
