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    Home » This and That » Picnic Perfect Chickenless Salad Sandwich. Vegan.

    by Kathy Patalsky · updated: Sep 13, 2019 · published: May 27, 2009 · About 3 minutes to read this article. 4 Comments

    Picnic Perfect Chickenless Salad Sandwich. Vegan.


    New York City in the summertime gives me constant daydreams of having a picture perfect picnic in Central Park. It’ll be a sunny day with a light sweet meadow breeze, birds chirping, a cool patch of emerald green grass to lay on, and nothing to do but bask in the sunshine, shoes off and a picnic basket at my side. What’s inside the basket? Well only the perfect vegan chickenless salad sandwiches of course. Maybe some ginger lemonade and a side of salty apple slices and root veggie chips for snacking. Click ahead to see how I’ve mastered my recipe. …So all I need is that perfect day to roll around…

    What is that Secret Ingredient? In my Chickenless Vegan Salad there are a few ‘secret’ ingredients. But the main flavor kicks are the tangy lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, that fennel/basil-like green herb tarragon and a warm hint of paprika and/or cayenne. Also of note: adding a lot of celery gives this salad a nice crunch. And using flat leaf parsley adds a fresh crisp taste. And the natural thickener, arrowroot powder helps this chickenless salad firm up in the fridge. You can even add in a tad more cabbage if you want an extra salad-y chickenless salad. Add a thick sliced onion, tomato and a dab of dijon mustard, and my perfect picnic sandwich is complete. First picnicing activity: the food.

    Picnic Perfect Chicken-less Salad
    vegan, makes 3 cups

    1 package Trader Joe’s Chickenless strips
    or 1 1/2 cups of grilled seitan, firm tofu or tempeh
    1 1/2 cups celery, chopped thinly
    2 tsp black pepper
    1 tsp salt
    1 Tbsp paprika
    1 small orange, diced
    1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
    2 Tbsp Tarragon, chopped
    4 Tbsp Vegenaise, heaping
    1 Tbsp olive oil
    1 lemon, juiced or 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
    1 tsp lemon zest
    1/4 cup flat parsley, chopped
    3-4 Tbsp sunflower seeds, roasted/salted
    2 scallions, chopped thinly
    optional: 3 Tbsp Arrowroot powder (natural thickener)
    optional: 1 tsp cayenne
    *Add more Vegenaise if you want a richer creamier chickenless salad

    Directions:
    1. Saute, grill, bake or microwave chicken-less strips or seitan/tofu/tempeh. Chop into small cubes. Place into medium sized bowl-set in fridge to cool while you prep the other ingredients.

    2. Clean and chop celery.


    3. Finely chop tarragon leaves.


    4. Shred and chop cabbage. Dice and de-seed orange. Zest and squeeze lemon.

    5. Add to a medium glass bowl:
    Protein: chickenless cubes or seitan/tofu/tempeh cubes.

    6. Add olive oil. Stir oil into cubes.

    7. Add celery, orange, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, paprika, cabbage, parsley, sunflower seeds, parsley and scallions. Mix well. Fold in veganaise and tarragon.

    8. Add optional arrowroot powder gradually and fold into salad. Add optional cayenne and more black pepper to top of salad.

    9. Press salad firmly into bowl, cover and place in the fridge for a half hour to chill. Chill overnight if you have time.

    10. Serve! Add to sandwiches, pitas or eat with hearty grain crackers. Picnic perfect!

    tip: use on crusty and toasted grain bread to avoid a soggy sandwich.

    More yummy photos…



    « Spicy Lasagna Verde with Green Basil Pesto. Vegan.
    Hawaii: Locavore Bliss. …And Samantha Brown! »

    About Kathy Patalsky

    Hey there! I'm Kathy, lover of kitty cats, weekend baking, 90's movies, travel, beach fog and foamy lattes. Since 2007, I have been sharing my vegan recipes and photos. My goal is to make your cooking life a little easier, delicious - and plant-loaded - while sharing some LIFE and conversation along the way.

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    Comments

    1. Jayme Duke says

      May 28, 2009 at 4:21 am

      Ooh this sounds amazing! This is definitely one of those types of sandwiches I’ve missed since becoming a vegetarian (almost 14 years ago!) and it’s one I never put the effort into replicating. I am definitely going to make this!

      Your pictures are great too! 🙂

      Reply
    2. Pattie Cordova says

      May 27, 2009 at 8:42 pm

      yum! I love Trader Joe’s products too. They are absolutely delicious – including their veggie cheese!

      Reply
    3. Kathy says

      May 27, 2009 at 8:25 pm

      Cami-
      Yes seitan works too!
      I used Trader Joe’s super easy to prepare Chicken-less strips. But I have made a similar recipe with seitan before and it works great. Just make sure to let the seitan marinate with the mixture a while-you want all the flavor goodness to soak into the protein.

      Happy picnic-ing!

      Kathy

      ps. Heck, you could even use a diced tempeh or extra firm tofu if you are desperate, really creative or a bit of both! The flavor mesh well with many vegan proteins.

      Reply
    4. Cami says

      May 27, 2009 at 8:23 pm

      ooh-la-la. Will this work well with seitan I hope?
      ~Camilla

      Reply

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