Mock Tuna Salad

I have been craving tuna salad for a while now.  I was going to buy it, but then found random recipes here and there, and pulled what I like from each of them to come up with my own recipe. Here is how she goes:

Mock Tuna Salad

Tuna

1 c. Soaked almonds 

1c. Soaked sunflower seeds

2 tbsp. Tamari or soy sauce

Mayo

1 c. Cashews

2 tbsp. Apple cider vinegar or to taste

1/4 Lemon, everything but the peel and seeds

1 Minced clove of garlic

1/2 tsp. Salt

Water

Add Ins

1/2 Chopped onion

2 Chopped small celery stalks

2-3 Chopped small dill pickles

1 tbsp. Capers

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Soak almonds and sunflower seeds for 4 to 8 hours.  Pulse in a blender with tamari until it looks like dryish tuna.  I did the almonds and sunflower seeds separately and then combined them in a bowl.

Mix all the ingredients together for the mayo except the water.  Add water in a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.  The mayo tastes much better when it gets to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before use.  If you do not want to use this nut mayo recipe you can use this mayo I have posted with my mock chicken salad, or any vegan mayo you desire.

Combine 'tuna' and 'mayo' with choice of add ins and eat, eat, eat.  I like in on bread with lettuce, on rice cakes (as seen in the pics) or in a mock tuna roll.  I will be posting pictures of that sometime in the future.  Yet, if you want to try it out sooner, just grab some nori and line it with lettuce (can use rice), lay the tuna salad on the lettuce and roll like veggie sushi.  The way i like to make mine is by cutting the nori into four smaller squares, adding lettuce and roll into little cones.  This is great for party appetizers and the flavor is more fishy due to the nori.

Mmmm, I just remembered my momski used to make macaroni tuna salad.  I am going to have to try that the next time I whip this up.

My Mocktastic Chicken Salad

Mocktastic Chicken Salad

2c. Faux Chicken (broken into small chunks)*

1c. Vegan Mayo*

1c. Shredded carrots

1/2c. Chopped green onions

1/2c. Chopped celery

Mix all ingredients together and serve alone or on bread of choice with lettuce.

*I found some faux chicken at a little health food store in my city here in Korea, but it is not like the kind I am used to getting back home.  It is dehydrated and needs to be boiled before use.  I boiled it and squeezed out the excess water.  The texture was great but it tasted rather bland.  So, here is how i prepared it (I am sure you can treat any faux chicken the same but i will assume it will absorb differently so you may have to play around with the measurements).

Faux Chicken (2c.)

1 tbsp. Lemon juice

1 tbsp. Soy sauce

1/2 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Curry Powder

1 tsp. Dried basil

A few grinds of fresh pepper

Sprinkle lemon juice and soy sauce over faux chicken, then add the dry ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to mingle.

*When I moved to Korea I quickly discovered (yet much anticipated) the lack of vegan items available, like vegan mayo.  So, I became more resourceful and decided I would make my own.  The main idea came from Postpunkkitchen but i tweaked it a little to make it yummier to my tastebuds. 

Vegan Mayo

1 1/2 c. Firm tofu (broken into chunks)

3 tbsp. Lemon juice

2 tbsp. Apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. Spicy mustard

pinch of salt

2-3 tbsp. Sesame oil

Mix everything in your blender until smooth.  Then add the sesame oil, blend on low speed if possible and just enough so it is thoroughly mixed.  (Try not to over blend because it may get irritated with you and up chunk or chunk up).