Name a vegan meal that’s more simple than an Asian stir-fry. Go on. I dare you to come up with something more basic.
I’ll take it a step further. How about a stir fry that’s got all the flavor of a restaurant dish but is ready in under 30 minutes?
Now I have your attention.
Guess what they are carrying at Costco now!?!?
You guys. This is huge. Gardein’s Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n is now being sold in the frozen section at Costco.
The chicken is separate from the little sauce packet. They were all separate, too. No massive freezer burn ice chunk to break apart. I made 3/4 of the chick’n and saved the rest for later.
I held the sauce packet under hot water and it thawed pretty much instantly. I was unsure of whether or not I’d use it, so I just kept it near by while cooking.
It was pretty much the easiest thing ever, I just followed the instructions…
Broccoli & Quinoa Orange Chik’n [vegan]
Ingredients:
- gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n + sauce packet
- 1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli
- 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (optional)
Directions:
Heat a skillet with the oil and add frozen veggies and chik’n.
Place lid on the pan and wait until they’ve thawed and started to cook.
Remove lid and add sauce and toss until it coats everything. Then add in the quinoa and toss again.
Add soy sauce if desired.
And it’s ready to serve!
So here’s the deal. To celebrate Gardein’s Costco debut, they are going to be holding sampling events on November 24th & 25th at Costco stores across Los Angeles and Orange Country.
Free (vegan) samples? Ummm, yes please?
If you tweet a picture of your Costco receipt to @Gardein (showing you purchased three Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n bags) you get a free bag on them! You can also win a t-shirt by checking in at Costco through Facebook and tagging @Gardein.
It gets so much better.
Gardein is offering coupons to THREE hungry hungry hippie readers for a free gardein product. Boom.
To win, all you have to do is tweet about this giveaway mentioning @elisehippie and @gardein.
You can also get an extra entry if you leave a comment picking your favorite gardein product.
And finally, give me a meal idea that uses any of the gardein products. As many as you want.
Leave all the comments separately.
I’ll choose 3 winners at random on November 25th.
Don’t miss out on this deliciousness.
I don’t normally buy prepared vegan eats, but I tried this very product at Expo West in early 2011 and loved it.
That was back when gardein was pretty new and I hadn’t yet tasted really good frozen vegan fare.
Now their products are all over, including being served at some of my favorite restaurants, like Veggie Grill.
Even Lean Cuisine has products with gardein (not that I’d buy Lean Cuisine, but still, that’s definitely progress for vegan fare!).
So, naturally, when gardein asked if I’d like to share the debut of the Mandarin Orange Chik’n with my readers I jumped at the chance.
I already knew I liked the flavor, but I had forgotten how convenient it is. For someone who gets home from work late and starving, I think I’m probably their target consumer. Knowing this was on the menu gave me something to look forward to. I had the quinoa already made (thanks rice cooker), so all I had to do was wait for the frozen stuff to thaw and – bam – done. I don’t cook much on work nights (I prefer to have my dinner already made and just needing reheating), but I could see this being a treat every once in a while.
It tasted just like take-out. But cost way less and is much healthier.
So enter to win some for yourself!
*gardein provided the product for me to review, but all opinions are my own
I’ve had the chicken tenders and I smother then in buffalo sauce (franks, naturally) and enjoy them so much more than actual buffalo wings.
Gardein is awesome! I definitely want to try the meatless meatballs!
I’ve never tried Gardein products but I would totally try cooking the sloppy joe stuff into a Greek moussaka!
I tweeted: I tweeted: https://twitter.com/j_mosh/status/270176710606086144
their meatless meatballs are pretty awesome!
I love Gardein. If you’ve ever been to Yard House, they have an entire section of the menu dedicated to dishes made with Gardein, and you can substitute Gardein in a ton of their other dishes too!
I would like to try the sliders. My kids would love them.
@rkosully
I tweeted about your giveaway!!!
https://twitter.com/rkosully/status/270216609694642176
Thank you!!
My favorite Gardein product is the classic style buffalo wings!
My meal idea is to use the Gardein Chick’n Scallopini, along with carrots, onions, broccoli, etc, to make a veggie pot pie! YUM!
Thank you for the giveaway!!!
Tweeted!
I haven’t tried it yet! But your recipe looks delish and simple:) The Breakfast Patties and the Santa Fe good stuff look great!
I think the beefless tips would be great with some mashed red potatoes! My mom use to make that all the time, except not vegan. And when I wasn’t vegan I use to make sausage, egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches with jam for breakfast sometimes, so I think the breakfast patties would be great like that except with veggie cheese and no egg!
i love to slice the chick’n patties on top of massive salads… it feels like an indulgence but they’re quite nutritious!
i’d love to make spaghetti and meatballs with spaghetti squash and the gardein meatless meatballs!
I hate the Costco’s around here! They don’t have Gardein products. I see the things you get at your Costco and hear about all the great things my sister gets at her Costco (out East) and I get so jealous, lol. My Costco kinda sucks. No fair!
But, I can get Gardein products at my local co-op or Whole Foods. However, I never have gotten them before because they are a little too pricy for me. I would love to win some free ones to try! Since I have never tried them I don’t have a favorite, but I *think* that my favorite would be the chick’n strips. That would be the first one I would try, anyway 🙂 I hope that counts!
Courtney
I am not on Twitter (I am lame, I know…) but my meal idea would be to use the pulled bbq shreds on pizza! Mmmm….
I would also love to try the meatless meatballs with quinoa and a nutritional yeast cheese sauce…it sounds weird, I know, but it also sounds really good!
I’m so low tech i’m not on twitter….!
Anyways, i would love to try their meatless balls to compare to TJ’s… Like a meatless ball taste test 🙂
There was a chipotle here in nyc and they did a test with gardein, but obvs it didnt make it to all the stores menus-
I would make my own version of a chipotle burrito bowl with the chiken cutlets and gobs of guacamole !
I like the buffalo wings!
i told abe to buy these and compare them to the TJ’s version the other day. i’d love some gardein goodness!
I really like the gardein buffalo wings
My meal idea would be to use the gardein chick’n in fajitas
Use the chick’n scallopini to make chick’n spring rolls! Cut into strips, saute, and mix with sliced carrots, green onions, cucumber, and rice vermicelli. Put in rice wrappers and serve with hoisin sauce:)
We buy the chick’n tenders and toss them in salads. Crispy chicken salad! Yum!!
I love their chicken tenders! I’m a spicy girl so I add buffalo sauce and make buffalo chicken salads! So good!
I tweeted! @accidentlydlish
I would love Gardein more if it was available gluten-free. The wheat and gluten makes me all bloaty and unsexy.
I would love to try any of their products. The meatballs sound good!
A great idea for the meal would be to make homemade lettuce wraps using the Orange chicken. So yum!
I love the meatless meatballs! Always pair them with spaghetti squash and tofu marinara!
Yum a meatless meatball sandwich sounds delish
I want to try their meatless meatballs with spaghetti!
I want some ch’kn patties too! These would be a good salad topper.
Anddd the sloppy joe stuff to make a sandwich!
Haven’t tried their products, but the meatless meatballs would be a great addition to my noodle soup!
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/carrotrunr/status/272085558770155520
The teriyaki chick’n strips are my favorite product.
Costco, I know you’re reading this. East coasters want Gardein too. — being veg is so much better in cali, you lucky hippie.
🙂
hi debbie – you won, so send me your address – thanks!
hi robin – you won so send me your address – thanks!
Thank you!!
I sent you an email from
osullivanrobin1@gmail.com
with my mailing address!