Whoah baby. How about that super bowl? What with the end zones, and the kicking, and the…who was in it again?
I saw all of 5 minutes of Super Bowl 319 (or whatever), but that doesn’t mean my life wasn’t directly effected by it. Instead of cooking and writing, I was working overtime at my office trying to get all the commercials out to the networks. That lame GoDaddy.com ad teasing a “revealing” of Danica Patrick? Yeah. That was my fault.
I don’t make the ads, folks. I just make sure they meet broadcast standards before we ship ’em out to the stations.
Luckily, I had it a little easier than others; some of who were up over 20 hours of overtime by the end of the week. “They” may say Christmas is the busiest time for companies, but I can guarantee “they” don’t know what they’re talking about.
With cooking left to a minimum, it was sandwiches all this week for Mike. I turned to the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch book again, remembering they had a section on “Hearty-Ass Sandwiches,” and decided on their Chicken Salad Sandwich recipe.
Now normally, the mere idea of Chicken Salad makes me gag; but that has more to do with mayonnaise being the main ingredient. Once I realized what mayo was, I refused to ever eat it again. This version of it though is nice and vegetarian using Nayonnaise in place of the raw-egg gross explosion.
The results? While it’s nothing to look at, it makes a pretty damn tasty veggie chicken salad. It even fooled a few people into thinking it was the real thing. And truth be told, I still gag a bit every time I open the container because I forget it’s not ACTUALLY chicken and mayonnaise. I think that’s a compliment.
A note on the grapes. You don’t have to use them, and I nearly didn’t, but they honestly do add a nice extra little flavor to the salad. It’s just a small burst of juice and texture, but completely worth adding.
“Chicken” Salad Sandwiches (adapted from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch)
- 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp coarse nutritional yeast
- 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp curry powder
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 cups chopped or shredded vegan chicken strips or chunks (I used Morningstar Farms Chik’n Meal Starters)
- 1/4 cup quartered seedless red grapes
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- 1/4 small red or white onion, finely diced
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 6-8 slices whole wheat bread
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, yeast, honey, salt, curry powder, and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, grapes, celery, onion, and parsley. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the chicken mixture, tossing gently.
Spread the chicken salad onto 3 or 4 slices of bread, topping with the remaining slices.
** Makes 4 sandwiches if using 1/2 cup of chicken salad per sandwich. **
Two Bites in Suburbia 