LAB NOTES: Monday Night At The Improv: Vegan “Tuna” Salad

Hello, Wayne AKA the Mad Food Scientist here.
This past weekend I was busy in the DCL.I made navy bean tofu, navy beans, aquafaba, vegan mayonnaise, pumpkin seed tofu, pumpkin seed milk, and vegan bacon.
I cooked the navy beans to produce aquafaba so I could make vegan mayonnaise. I had it in the back of my mind to use the beans to make vegan “tuna” salad. I’ve made it before, but failed to write down the recipe that I used the last time. So I went looking on YouTube. I watched a few, and clicked on a short Mark, from the Sauce Stache channel, had posted showing how he made “tuna” salad using chickpeas and tofu. I hadn’t decided what to do with the navy bean tofu yet, I had thought to freeze it for later use, but Mark’s idea seemed to be a darn good answer. There wasn’t really a recipe to follow so we’re at Monday Night At the Improv. I took Mark’s idea and ran with it.

LAB NOTES: 15 May, 2023
INGREDIENTS:
1 850g block of navy bean tofu
454g ( Dry weight ) cooked navy beans
3 onions, small: Chunked
4 Celery, stalks: diced
1 TBSP Granulated garlic
1 TBSPGranulated onion
1 TBSP Red pepper flakes
1 TBSP Chili Powder
1 TBSP Nutritional yeast
1 TBSP Oreganon
1 TBSP Basil
1 TBSP Dill seed
1 TBSP Mushroom seasoning
5 TBSP Vegan Mayonnaise
Fresh cracked black pepper
Brown and Spicy mustard
Olive oil
Vegan bacon
The juice of a lemon

WHAT I DID:
I grabbed the beans and tofu from the refrigerator. I cubed up the tofu and tossed it into the bowl with the beans, then transferred the beans and tofu to a larger bowl.

Next, I grabbed my trusty potato masher and went to town mashing the tofu and beans.

Then I peeled and chunked up the onions into the bowl.

I diced up the celery into the bowl as well.

Then I did my first mix and stirred the beans, tofu, and vegetables.The seasonings went in next. The next ingredients to go in was the olive oil, vegan mayonnaise, and mustard. I didn’t measure the olive oil, or mustard. I mixed everything together. The last thing to go in the bowl was the last of the vegan bacon cubed up.

Another stir, and a taste test, then it was supper time!  As you can see from the photos, this is a large batch. I’ll be eating this for the next several days. This vegan “Tuna” salad is super loaded with protein. This “Tuna” salad is very flavourful and plays well with the lettuce that I put on my sandwiches. I don’t have Nori, nor do I have kelp flakes so this vegan “Tuna” salad doesn’t taste just like tuna. That doesn’t bother me a bit.
Since this is an improvisation, if you decide to make it, you can start with a clean slate and make it taste the way you want.  I’m going to offer advice counter to what you may have learned growing up. Get in the kitchen and PLAY with your food!  Your tastebuds will thank you!!

Keep Safe.