March 9, 2011

• …oh, (vegan) chicken salad! you are so tasty! you’re food! to be eaten, it’s good!…

  on the topic of eating my greens lately…and of not being wild about salad dressings…i must admit that the thing i love most about salad is the blankness of canvas it offers.  spinach with celery, carrot, and chickpeas becomes a perfect plate to top with a bit of ginger dressing.  and i’ll put black olives on pretty much anything green. 

  but one thing i’ve been trying to work towards lately is getting more protein.  during the winter, i tend to lean towards heavy foods like whole wheat breads and hearty soups.  the onset of spring always finds me wishing for lighter fare.  something about the combination of ginger and chickpeas in my salad the other evening reminded me of tuna salad.  i have no idea where that memory came from—i haven’t eaten real tuna salad in over 15 years!  but after that fleeting flavor, i decided to look up a vegan alternative to try out.  that led me on a spree of recipe research, during which i found a recipe for vegan mayo and three salads that sounded worth tweaking for personal use.

  as always with my recipes, they’re concepts from various sources, adjusted by my own kitchen expertise.

  
  from top left:  tuna salad, egg salad, chicken salad.  all vegan!

  vegan mayo

  12 oz. firm tofu
  4 tbsp. water
  4 tbsp. veggie oil (although i used the liquid from the chickpeas i used later)
  2 tbsp. lemon juice
  dash salt

  1)  blend all ingredients until smooth.  if needed, add more water and veggie oil (up to two extra tablespoons)
  2)  store in an airtight container in the fridge

  vegan tuna salad

  15 oz. can chickpeas
  1/8-1/4 c. vegan mayo
  1/2-1 full stalk celery
  2-3 tbsp. sweet relish
  1-2 tsp. soy sauce
  dash garlic powder

  1)  drain chickpeas.  mash with fork in a medium bowl
  2)  mix in remaining ingredients
  3)  store in an airtight container in the fridge

  vegan egg salad

  14 oz. firm tofu
  1/3 c. vegan mayo
  1/3 c. sweet relish
  1/2 tsp. lemon juice
  1/2-1 full stalk celery
  1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  2 tsp. mustard

  **  after eyeballing things up to this point, i taste-tested and decided the salad was still too tofu-y.  so, i stepped up to our spice shelf and pondered.  i decided to add:

  several dashes yellow curry power
  several dashes smoked paprika
  1 1/2 tbsp tofutti vegan cream cheese

  1)  drain and press tofu
  2)  mash tofu with a fork in a medium bowl
  3)  mix in remaining ingredients
  4)  store in an airtight container in the fridge

  **i am still working on this recipe…there’s just a little something missing.  however, when added to a bed of fresh spinach, it comes full circle.

  vegan chicken salad

  15 oz. can chickpeas
  1/2-1 full stalk celery
  3 tbsp. minced onion
  1/3-1/2 c. vegan mayo
  salt and pepper to taste

  1)  drain chickpeas.  mash with a fork in a medium bowl
  2)  mix in remaining ingredients
  3)  store in an airtight container in the fridge

  my favorite turned out to be the tuna.  i don’t feel like the chickpea texture would be super omni-friendly, but it worked just fine for me in both the tuna and chicken recipes.  the egg salad, as previously stated, still needs to be fine-tuned, but it was definitely good enough for me to work it out!

  i made the vegan mayo, all three of these salads, and a super dessert (coming up next) in under an hour and a half in the kitchen.  while that may seem like a lot of time to spend slaving at the counter, i won’t have to prep anything else for days if i don’t want to.  yay, lazy weekend!

  • 10:37 pm
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