Since I’m picnicking over on the Bicyclette blog today for this week’s edition of Take Me Out, I figured I might as well post one of my all-time favourite picnic recipes here for all of you wonderful people. This recipe was originally taught to me by my incredibly talented friend Laura (the best vegan cook I know) a few years ago, and though I’ve tweaked it a little bit, I’ve cherished it as one of the best vegan sandwich recipes in my recipe book ever since.
I haven’t eaten fish in a few years, but it was the last thing I gave up when I went veg because I love it so much, and I’m always on the lookout for fishy vegetarian substitutes that can fill the sea creature void in my diet. I mean, no mermaid should be eating her friends from the ocean right? Fish are friends, not food!
Anyway, this recipe is so delicious and flavourful that it’s just as good as the real thing, and unlike its real tuna counterpart, it doesn’t hurt the already suffering ocean and feed into overfishing. You can use it to make vegan tuna melts, tuna casserole, or just classic cold tuna sandwiches like I did. I promise, you won’t be fish-appointed (it’s been a long week, don’t judge me.)
Ingredients:
Half a block of firm tofu, frozen overnight and then thawed
1 bunch chopped green onion
1 cup Veganaise (or normal mayo if you’re not vegan)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
A tiny pinch of smoked paprika
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
A bit of carrot, celery, onion, or anything else you like in tuna salad!
Method:
Drain the liquid out of the tofu after it has thawed by pressing on it with paper towel. Once it is dry and spongy, use a fork to flake the tofu. Because you have frozen it the night before, the tofu will crumble and flake easily, and the texture will be much better!
Now here’s the best part: all you have to do is mix all of the ingredients up in a bowl and serve! I added two stalks of chopped celery to my batch for extra crunch, and served the tuna salad on brown bread. It tasted heavenly, and was so convincing that even the cats went after it! Let me know how you serve it okay? I’m always open to new tasty ideas!
Photography by Brianne Burnell