Foodie Friday : Eggless Egg Salad

My whole family is allergic to eggs. I developed the allergy in my early twenties and learning to give up my favourite food has been a challenge. I can work around it by finding vegan recipes online and doing a lot of my own baking, however a replacement for good old egg salad sandwiches was impossible until now.

The brilliance of tofu is that it absorbs the flavours of the ingredients you add to it. The consistency is important! Anything softer than “medium” will make your salad runny and anything harder will make the texture all wrong. 

The most common mistake with tofu (it has a bad rap, admit it…) is using the wrong consistency for the recipe or trying to use it as a meat replacement in a meat recipe. Use tofu specific recipes and you may have more luck. It generally tastes like nothing, until you add your own flavours and it absorbs them. Tofu done correctly can be awesome!

Eggless Egg Salad

-1 Pkg “Medium” Tofu (approx. 454g)

-2 Regular green onions, chopped

-1 tsp dry mustard

-3 to 4 tablespoons Vegenaise Original

-Pepper to taste

-1/2 to ¾ tsp Indian Black Salt (also known as Kala Namak) **Secret Ingredient!

-Step 1:    Slice open tofu package and drain. Get as much liquid out as possible, pat dry with clean paper towel if necessary. Slice into medium sized chunks and dump into a medium sized mixing bowl.

-Step 2:   With a fork, mash up the tofu until it vaguely resembles a scrambled egg.

-Step 3:   Add Vegenaise.

*On a side note: There are several mayonnaise substitutes out there, and I’ve tried most of them. This seems to be the tastiest and closest to real mayonnaise. Most of them have the consistency of snot (ew), but this one doesn’t. If you try this recipe and use a different mayo-alternative, be prepared that it may not be as awesome 

-Step 4:   Add onions, mustard and pepper. Dry mustard works best, but if you don’t have any, regular bottled mustard will work. You will need at least two teaspoons (dry mustard is more concentrated). I like my egg salad slightly spicy so I usually start with 1 tsp of dry mustard then add more to taste. Fold together until well mixed.  

            

-Step 5:   Here is where the magic happens! The secret ingredient is Indian Black Salt, sometimes called Kala Namak. Its origin is African and Indian, and I had a very hard time finding it. I eventually ordered it from Amazon. One sniff and you’ll understand why this is the secret  and MOST important component of this recipe! It smells and tastes like sulphur (which we all know smells like eggs!) It’s incredibly salty so add with care. ½ to ¾ tsp is probably enough. Mix in.

*On a side note, I ordered it in bulk on Amazon by accident and now have enough for 3 lifetimes. If  you are local and want to try it, they sent it in a bunch of sealed packages I could sell off! (a.sawatzky@live.com)

-Step 6:   Add to bread or toast. Yum.

I have fed this to friends and family who did not realize it was tofu. It’s that good! 

Indian Black Salt is also an awesome addition to vegan potato salad to add a bit of eggy taste.

Cheers!

Recipe by: By Blackbird Designs