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Original poster

Vegan/vegetarian whole chicken breast for Kievs?

28 replies

Namechange1011111stairs · 02/03/2023 11:13

12yr old is vegan but we've said she has to accept vegetarian options at school.

She has just started home ec and we have a recipe book of things she MUST cook with no alternatives. Most is meat based. Some we can substitute ingredients (school disapprove but tough) eg quorn mince (blggh).

However one of the recipes is chicken kiev. We don't use meat substitutes so I've no idea what we can use instead of a whole raw chicken breast? It must be whole, not frozen and needs to function and cook the same. Taste is less important (ironically). Any suggestions? Please?

School are absolutely useless with veggie stuff, and vegan options are non-existant. I have no idea how they would cope if a child had a religious requirement eg Buddhist. It's a big school with experienced teachers so really has no excuse.

Thanks!

OP posts:
JenniferL27 · 02/03/2023 11:17

Meatfree farm do a plant based chicken breast.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 02/03/2023 11:19

Firm tofu (like tofoo) that you marinate a bit in some decent stock or vegan Worcestershire sauce?

marleyandme · 02/03/2023 11:20

Was also going to suggest meatless farm chicken Breast, it's definitely in tesco and I think morrisons too. It's in the refrigerated section so as close as you can get to a chicken breast. There are other frozen things like quorn fillets but if she's got to cook with them it's probably best to not get something that's cook from frozen.

Cantchooseaname · 02/03/2023 11:21

Field mushrooms- the big ones? Take the stalk out of two, fill with garlic marg and the breadcrumb- don’t know what you would replace the egg with, but am sure there is some thing!

Original poster
Namechange1011111stairs · 02/03/2023 11:25

I will have a look @JenniferL27 . Do you treat it the same as a chicken breast eg can you cut a pocket in it? Thanks!

@SuperLoudPoppingAction we can't stand tofu in it's basic form so have no idea how to cook it. 🤣 Do you have to marinate it? Can you just roll it in bread crumbs, stuff garlic (vegan) butter in it and cook it? Thanks.

Just trying to find something that will cause the least fuss/attention.

I sort of get a lack of vegan options but vegetarian is so "normal" now I don't know why school find it so difficult to cater for.

OP posts:
Original poster
Namechange1011111stairs · 02/03/2023 11:27

@marleyandme great. I will have a look. Thanks.

@Cantchooseaname in real life, that would be absolutely fine but school won't see it as acceptable. They'll say it's not the same. Thanks though.

OP posts:
ninja · 02/03/2023 11:29

That's crazy that they don't applaud veggie alternatives - at my daughters school they got extra points for adapting recipes!

Feel free to completely ignore my suggestion, because it's not like chicken. But I think aubergine would work well in that you can cut a pocket and it would probably cook in around the same time. And now I want to try it because I think it might actually be quite nice!

EezyOozy · 02/03/2023 11:31

Came on to suggest aubergine ! Would be lovely baked / roasted with garlic stuff inside . And easy to stuff.

ninja · 02/03/2023 11:31

Cross posted - aubergine won't cut it then.

I have a vague memory that there was a court case a couple of years ago about the right of vegan OSM as a belief (similar to a religion). If that's the case it might be worth finding out and presenting the school with it as they can't be seen to discriminate

ClaraThePigeon · 02/03/2023 11:31

Aubergine? They're often breaded.

ninja · 02/03/2023 11:32

@EezyOozy great minds and all that - when/if I can get an aubergine I'm going to give it a go!

ninja · 02/03/2023 11:32

@ClaraThePigeon and I thought I had a unique good idea!

WandaWonder · 02/03/2023 11:34

I presume meat requires a certain cooking skill to prevent illness where cooking mushroom, aubergine, tofu etc can be usually be eaten raw? Without ill effects?

Rosafiona · 02/03/2023 11:40

How about a whole halloumi?!

catfunk · 02/03/2023 11:45

I'm not usually a 'woke complainer' (and I eat meat myself) but if they only offer a meat option for the lesson, I'd be complaining re discrimination under the equality act, if someone with a religious belief that ruled out meat was forced to cook/ handle meat. She's not training as a chef at college presumably so there's no reason to not include a standard veggie/ vegan alternative for each lesson.

piedbeauty · 02/03/2023 11:46

Cantchooseaname · 02/03/2023 11:21

Field mushrooms- the big ones? Take the stalk out of two, fill with garlic marg and the breadcrumb- don’t know what you would replace the egg with, but am sure there is some thing!

Good idea!

piedbeauty · 02/03/2023 11:49

Surely it's much better for a vegetarian to adapt a meat-based meal to an actual vegetable instead of using plant-based or processed food? What is the food tech teacher thinking???

piedbeauty · 02/03/2023 11:49

Plus they should be thinking about health and the impact on the planet of eating meat vs veggie meals...

CharlotteDoyle · 02/03/2023 11:50

Hmm trying to force a vegan student to cook meat for a school assignment as you've described seems to be like bullying behaviour (at best) or discrimination. I'd be escalating the matter.

LittleBlueBrioTrain · 02/03/2023 11:56

On 3 January 2020 it was ruled that ethical veganism is classified under law as a ‘philosophical belief,’ which is one of the nine protected characteristics listed under the Equality Act 2010.

Encourage/support your daughter to speak out.

To answer your question, vegetarian butcher impeckable "chicken breast" or meatless farms as already suggested.

Objectionhearsayspeculation · 02/03/2023 12:43

Vegetarian Butcher is a decent one and Vivera fillets are lovely to eat but slightly smaller but still can be filled and breaded if she would be allowed to make two, I've made Kiev and mushroom and spinach with a cream cheese filling (Plant based Philadelphia is lovely). I say this as a strict veggie almost vegan because of allergies so I would definitely encourage her to stand firm on her substitutions.

tattychicken · 02/03/2023 12:43

M and S do vegan mini kievs which are good.

tattychicken · 02/03/2023 12:45

Sorry didn't read properly! Ignore.

Original poster
Namechange1011111stairs · 02/03/2023 13:07

Thanks everyone. I'll look that ruling up. It will be interesting to see how that applies.

She is generally very happy there and loves it. They are very much about conformity and being the same though. Truth be told I am a bit concerned about that but the other schools around us are awful so it's the lessor of 2 evils.

She has 5 years there and there are some other things that have the potential to become issues so I'm trying to pick my battles.

She's reluctanly OK with choosing veggie food instead of vegan. Although has now decided to take lunch in because yesterday she had plain bread for lunch because the "veggie" option was tuna sandwich and they wouldn't do anything else. I have complaimed aboit that and am waiting for a call back.

Understandably the cooking meat is something that is upsetting her and I'm willing to kick up a fuss about that if I need to but I'd rather just find an alternative and save the fuss for another battle. The alternative above sounds good.

OP posts:
FusionChefGeoff · 02/03/2023 13:22

Does she go to school in the 50s?!?!

This is so weird - agree with pp that they should embrace special diets and encourage discussion around alternatives and adaptations.

What a bizarre approach!

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