This walnut sauce is a simple, but delicate and perfectly balanced complement for vegetarian chicken.  Smooth and creamy with crunchy chunks.  Together it’s one of those so-good-have-to-eat-more type of dishes.  We adapted it from The Sultan’s Kitchen:  a Turkish Cookbook by Ozcan Ozan for our vegetarian diet.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Gardein meatless crispy chick’n (we use the Mandarin Orange variety, and leave the sauce out for a different purpose)
• 2 t paprika

Walnut Sauce:

• 2 T butter
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 t garlic, minced
• 1½ T paprika
• 1 t chili powder
• 2 c veggie broth (1 Knorr vegetarian bullion cube dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water)

• 2 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
• 1½ walnuts, chopped
• ½ t salt, or more to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Place the Gardein meatless chick’n in a single layer on a greased baking pan.  Sprinkle the paprika over the top of the chick’n.  Bake in the oven for 9 minutes.  Flip over each chick’n piece, place back in the oven and bake for another 9 minutes more.

Heat the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and stir-fry for 2 minutes until the onion is soft but not brown.  Add in the garlic, paprika, and chili powder.  Turn off the heat and immediately remove the mixture from the pan to a food processor.

Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the food processor.  Blend the sauce until mostly smooth with a few chunks.  Add more salt as needed, to taste.

To serve, slice the baked chick’n strips.  Liberally pour the sauce on top.