Recommend veggie chicken salad

[jbphburg]

OK, so now I need veggie chicken salad for my proposed veggie sandwich shop. I might consider making it myself, but just getting it from someone else is an idea too. So who makes a good vegan chik salad?

[mouse]

I'm sorry, but I don't know of any.

[soilman]

I can make it but it should be kept refrigerated and used within a few days.

It is very simple and easy and starts with dry chik peas, which results in a far superior flavor than if canned chik peas were used. They take almost 2 hours to cook but I cook a huge batch ahead of time and freeze them; then I thaw small quantities in the microwave, as needed, to produce a batch of chik salad. I mash the whole chik peas by a special mechanical process which produces a unique texture.

No artificial ingredients are used. No refined ingredients. Made from scratch, except if I am in a hurry I use Tobasco sauce (ingredients: cayenne peppers, water, vinegar, and salt) instead of using ground cayenne pepper (which has to sit awhile, in the salad, before the salad will absorb its flavor). Otherwise, all the ingredients are simple agricultural products that have had nothing done to them except perhaps mechanical processing -- cutting, slicing, mashing, squeezing, grinding, etcetera. No chemicals. No prepared products (other than perhaps Tobasco sauce), that is, no products that I get already prepared, and have more than one ingredient, are used -- no mayonaise, no prepared mustard, no prepared sauces. Except for the optional Tobasco sauce, I buy each ingredient separately. Oils are used in moderation.

[punkmommy]

Hmm, you could get it from me! I re-hydrate the large chunks of TVP ( the small doesn't work as well) and process them in a food processor until shredded. I add a lot of Vegenaise, finely minced onion, shredded carrots and spices (or whatever you want in it) . It's really best the next day after everthing has mingled and it lasts around 5 days.

[jbphburg]

Sounds like a solid recipe punkmommy, I see myself as perhaps not having so much time as to prepare that myself, favoring purchasing it through someone who distributes it; I have had it off the shelf, but can't recall what company.

[soilman]

We use oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice -- no vinegar -- as is the main tartness ingredient in Vegenaise (lemon juice is down at the end of the ingredient list, after salt).

Texturized vegetable protein is, of course, made from what is left of soybeans after the oil is pressed from it. This kind of material is often used as animal food, for animals that are being raised to be eaten by humans, and the soy oil and soy protein industry is a big agri-business that is intimately tied to the factory-farming industry. Besides, chik peas taste better. They have a long tradiition of being used for human food, by small farmers, and I prefer to work within this tradition framework rather than in the atmosphere of big agribusiness. Esp since the soy protein that is texturized and sold for human consumption, in retail stores, for some odd reason actually costs more than chik peas, and more than chik peas per gram of protein.

Also, of course, we use the whole chick pea, with its fibrous skin, and its germ; with tvp, the germ of the soybean is removed, as is the skin -- thus reducing the fiber and removing many of the valuable natural micronutrients. The chik peas are use in my recipes are a whole food; tvp is an industrially produced refined food.

[punkmommy]

Sounds like a solid recipe punkmommy, I see myself as perhaps not having so much time as to prepare that myself, favoring purchasing it through someone who distributes it; I have had it off the shelf, but can't recall what company.

I'm not sure where you're located, but there's a company that sells a vegan chicken salad that I fashioned my recipe after. I cannot remember their name right now, it's Sun- something. It comes in little tubs and is sold in a lot of hfs in the Philly tri-state area. If I can think of it, I'll let you know...:think: Maybe we're thinking of the same company!

[SallyK]

Oh my gosh, can you send me some when you find it? :drool:

[punkmommy]

If I could keep it cold, I'd send you some of mine Sally :)

[soilman]

It is easy to keep cold if you want to swing for Next-Day-Delivery. You just need the right insulating packaging and the right amount of ice in a special lightweight (yet leak resistant) container. You don't even need dry ice but that would allow you longer shipping time than 24 hours.

[jbphburg]

Punkmommy, you're thinking of the same company as I am, Sunyee or something? Maybe they do big tubs of it as well as the little ones.
Soilman that's nice of you to offer, but that NDA freight can be a killer and really run the cost up.

[soilman]

I'm eating some of my chik salad now.

On a pita bread, with romaine lettuce.

We cook our chikpeas in a way that is a bit different than other people cook their, which results in more flavor, not to mention more vitamins and minerals. With our method, none of the flavor or nutrients from the chik peas are lost in the water that the chik peas are cooked in. Also, we conserve water, as we do not throw away any water in which the chik peas are steamed.

[vegankittykat]

Punkmommy, you're thinking of the same company as I am, Sunyee or something? Maybe they do big tubs of it as well as the little ones.
Soilman that's nice of you to offer, but that NDA freight can be a killer and really run the cost up.

You guys are thinking of "Suneen" brand. Personally, I think their stuff is awful. My favorite is a brand called "Karen and Sisters". It's a little tough to find, but they normally have it at one of the Whole Foods near me. There's also another brand called "Moishe's" which isn't bad.

[missleigh]

The only one I've ever seen was distributed to local health food stores by a restaurant nearby. (I'm in Georgia). Perhaps you can check around at some veg restaurants in your area who are willing to distribute?

[jbphburg]

Yep, Suneen is correct...I actually like that myself. Maybe I could take a crack at a recipe myself, just trying to be realistic about how much I can make daily, although maybe as I develop a better sense for the daily organization of activities I'll find it doable.
Soilman I had something similiar to what you've described, and it was indeed very good.