Eggless Salad Sandwich Filling

Drain and rinse your tofu and then pat it dry. There is no need to press tofu.

In  a mixing bowl, combine the first six dry ingredients. Then add the  mayonnaise and mustard. Stir until well blended. Crumble the tofu into  your bowl and mix.

Cover and refrigerate a few hours before serving to allow the tofu to absorb the flavors.

In addition to sandwiches, the eggless salad recipe also makes a nice  topping for crackers. I also use it as a base for potato salad by adding  about 2 pounds of potatoes, boiled and cubed. For both recipes, the  proportions and spices can easily be adjusted to suit your taste. To  keep things simple and reduce cleanup, I like to mix and store in the  same container. I also measure dry ingredients before wet so I only need  one set of utensils.

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This really shows my age, but I was a teenager when flavored yogurt became available on grocery store shelves. I had heard about yogurt and was curious. I noticed that my grandmother had some in her refrigerator. I asked her what it tasted like, and she said it was like pudding. Needless to say, my first bite of yogurt was a shocker. I wasn’t expecting the tangy flavor and thought it must be spoiled, but like many other foods, I learned to enjoy yogurt.

My first experience with tofu was very similar and unforgettable. It involved a friend telling me how much she liked tofu, and getting me excited to taste it. She made her favorite tofu dish and offered me a bite. I wanted to like it, but when I took my first bite, all I could think of was how tasteless and disappointing it was. I had to fake it when I thanked my friend and told her how good it tasted. Then I imagined myself serving a tofu dish to my family and pictured their wondering eyes that asked why I torture them. If someone open-minded like me who really wanted to like tofu didn’t like it, how could I ever get my family to like it?

After that introduction, you may be asking why would I want to add a mostly flavorless ingredient to my food? But that is exactly what makes tofu so amazing and versatile. Tofu adds the texture, you add the flavor, sweet or savory. But it gets even better than that! There are many varieties of tofu that allow you to have a diverse range of textures. Tofu is also a low-calorie source of protein with good fats, vitamins and minerals. Some people are afraid of soy, but all of the research shows it has a long list of health benefits, like lowering cholesterol and decreasing cancer risk.

Once I realized the flexibility of tofu, I started to have fun experimenting. As I started to develop my tofu recipes, I was lucky to have two non-vegan teenage boys at home to be my taste-testers. I knew that if they liked my new recipe in addition to burgers, fries and pizza, that it must be a success. It made me happy when I made the egg-less salad sandwich filling ahead for supper the next day and came home to find that my kids had eaten some for an after-school snack — I wasn’t forcing them to eat it; they liked it.

It is important to choose the type of tofu that creates the desired effect. There are two general categories of tofu: regular and silken. You find regular tofu packed in water in the refrigerated section of your favorite grocery store, with textures from soft to extra firm. Regular tofu holds its shape better and is suitable for sauteing and stir-frying. It is also used as an egg substitute in the following recipes. The second category, known as silken, comes in an aseptic container and can be stored at room temperature. Silken tofu is very creamy and is always softer than regular tofu, which makes it ideal for sauces, dips and pudding. Most tofu recipes taste better when made ahead, so the tofu has time to absorb the flavors.

Both of these recipes use regular tofu — the kind packed in water. The firm or extra-firm varieties work best. There is no need to press the tofu; just drain, rinse and pat dry with a clean towel. To take the place of eggs, the tofu is crumbled into small pieces. The sandwich filling is an adaptation of a traditional egg-salad sandwich recipe and it takes less time than the traditional recipe because you don’t have to boil the eggs.

When I first experimented with tofu scramble, I did an internet search for recipes, but it always seemed like something was missing. After some thought, I realized the tofu takes the place of the egg white, but I wasn’t tasting any egg yolk flavor. Knowing that mayonnaise is traditionally made with egg yolk, I added some vegan mayo to my next batch of tofu scramble and loved the result. That said, you should know that I tend to go heavy on the mayo because it’s a weakness of mine. If you want a lighter-calorie, less-rich result, you could easily cut the mayonnaise in half.

There are two non-traditional ingredients you may not be familiar with: kala namak salt and nutritional yeast. If you haven’t tried them, you should. Kala namak salt is also known as Himalayan black salt, but note that the powdered salt has a pink color. It contains sulfur compounds that give it the aroma and flavor of hard-boiled eggs. It is used in vegan dishes to mimic the taste of eggs and also tastes good in bean dishes. It is available at Indian grocery stores, in stores with large spice sections and online. The nutritional yeast adds great flavor, a nice yellow color, extra nutrients and is available at New Pioneer Food Coop, HyVee Health Market and Natural Grocers.

In addition to sandwiches, the eggless salad recipe also makes a nice topping for crackers. I also use it as a base for potato salad by adding about 2 pounds of potatoes, boiled and cubed. For both recipes, the proportions and spices can easily be adjusted to suit your taste. To keep things simple and reduce cleanup, I like to mix and store in the same container. I also measure dry ingredients before wet so I only need one set of utensils.