Photo by Sangeeta Kumar

Allison Burgess, the founder of Match meats, offers this recipe inspired by Paula Deen’s recipe for Sesame Chicken Strips. Burgess thought it might be of interest to cooks avoiding meat during Lent as well as appealing to those who don’t eat meat for other reasons.

Match is a locally made product that originally was marketed to restaurant chefs under the name AuraPro. It’s now sold frozen at Dierberg’s and Whole Foods Markets. In addition to the variety that mimics ground chicken, Match makes vegan versions of ground pork, ground beef, Italian sausage, breakfast sausage and crab.

By the way, most Worcestershire sauces contain anchovies. The vegan version eliminates that ingredient.

Sesame Match Chicken Strips

Yield: 4 servings

1 cup vegan cream cheese
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 pound Match Chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (see note). Lightly grease a 15-by-10-inch baking sheet or line with non-stick foil.

In a large bowl, stir together sour cream, lemon juice, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper and garlic. In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs and sesame seeds.

Wet hands with water or a little oil; form Match chicken into 8 portions shaped like chicken tenders (see photo). Dip the “tenders” into the cream cheese mixture. Roll in bread crumbs, coating evenly.

Arrange in a single layer in prepared pan. Spray with vegan margarine or a little oil, and bake until Match^TM chicken is firm and golden brown.

Note: If you don’t want to heat up your oven, these tenders can be sautéed in about ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil over medium-low heat until golden brown and hot all the way through (about 150-160 degrees). If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, test for doneness by depressing a spoon or spatula on the tenders to see how firm they are.

Photography by Sangeeta Kumar