byAndrew Olson
I always shake my head when us crazy vegan people make recipes where half the ingredients are in quotes: Roast “Beef” Sandwich with Swiss “Cheese” and Chipotle “Mayo”! but nevertheless, here I am with these “Mozzarella” sticks that are really made from hearts of palm.
About a year ago I went to an awesome vegan restaurant in LA called Sage and I had these heart of palm “mozzarella” sticks that were amazing, but fried and oily. Since I try to stay away from oil, it has been on my list ever sense to try making a baked version and I’m so glad I finally got around to it because these are super delicious.
They key to making something like this taste great when baked, instead of fried, is a good breading. If you have good flavors and consistency in that area, they’ll be tasty even if they aren’t drenched in oil. To that end, this batter has pulverized cashews and nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor along with more traditional breadcrumbs and spices. Simply bread the hearts of palm and bake until crispy for a really amazing appetizer.
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 12-15 heart of palm “sticks” (~2 inches each) in brine
- 1/4 cup raw cashews, pulverized
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1-2 tablespoons dried parsley, optional
- Marinara sauce, for serving
Prep: Preheat the oven to 375º F
Step One
In a powerful blender, add the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Blend until the cashews are pulverized into a powder. Add this mixture to a bowl and combine with the breadcrumbs and parsley (dried herbs are nice because they give the beige coating a more exciting look, but they really don’t add much flavor).
Step Two
Grab your hearts of palm from the can/jar and rinse thoroughly, then dip each one into the batter with one hand and use the other (dry) hand to transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. When you’re done (you should have enough batter for at least 15 sticks), pop them in the oven for about 45 minutes until the batter just starts to darken.
You won’t get the same kind of dark golden color that you would by frying, but you can put them right under the broiler for 45-90 seconds to get a little more crispiness if needed.
Step Three
Serve with your favorite marinara sauce. They actually keep quite well and can easily be reheated the next day in the microwave or oven.
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10 Comments
Leave a ReplyI have never bought hearts of palm. Any recommendations?
thanks
MJReply
I think they are in a can since he states that they are “in brine”. They would be in the Asian Foodl section in the grocery store
Reply
Hi MJ, I got mine at Costco in a big jar and they were the perfect 2 1/2 inch round sticks. I think they’re pretty easy to find in most grocery stores these days, in the asian section, like Roxanne said, or the canned section.
Reply
Thank you both
will go to Costco.Reply
I could quibble over whether “bread crumbs” are truly “one-ingredient” – usually not, in my experience – BUT this crumb mixture is delicious!! I expect to use it in other recipes, having depleted my stock (1 jar from Trader Joe’s) of hearts of palm to make this recipe. While it’s not chewy/ stretchy like mozz, this recipe made a perfectly good substitute for an artery-clogging former favorite hot treat, which I intend to repeat in the future!
I cut my sticks in half lengthwise, since they seemed very thick; they were about 4-5″ long, I’d guess, and that made them more resemble what I remember of mozz sticks. Total yum! And very easy!
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Hi Heidi! Thanks for the insightful comments and I’m glad you liked them. You could always just dry out some whole wheat bread and pulse it in a food processor to make your own… or just buy the TJ’s kind and look the other way when you dump them into the bowl :p
I actually had to cut one of mine in half lengthwise as well and that worked fine too.
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I have never had heart of palm, but always wanted to try it. I had no clue what to do with them though. You have provided the perfect use of them so I will definitely be giving this a try. Thanks for another great recipe.
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Loved making these! For the batter I used oat flour and cashew milk with some seasoning and nutritional yeast and crushed gluten free rice Chex for the bread coating
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I’m glad you liked them. Your batter sounds really great!
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I made these and loved. Confused how the batter sticks to the heart of palm though. I ended up making an egg wash to dip the palm in first. Anyway, turned out amazing. Super great lunch. Wad looking to add some variety to my normal veggie burger meal.
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