Monday, May 07, 2007

Eggless Deviled Egg Tofu Salad Sandwich

I finally got around to trying out a new recipe for the lunchbox today. The funny thing is though, I really didn't even like eggs that much before I went vegan. I never ate them scrambled or fried. Except for using them as ingredients in other recipes (like CAKE!), I rarely consumed them. There were TWO ways that I enjoyed eating them though, even though I didn't do it very often. I always liked deviled eggs and I always liked egg salad sandwiches. And of course, growing up here where I did, there was always an abundance of both at most Summer cookouts or other functions. So when I discovered this recipe for Eggless Deviled Egg Tofu Salad, I knew that it was something that I wanted to try. I had seen several vegan egg salad recipes floating around but this one sounded like it might be the best one. The fact that it was from Isa (author of VwaV), just made me want to try it even more, because I don't think I've tried a single recipe that she's put her name on that I didn't just absolutely love.

As you can see from the recipe, the main thing that sets this recipe apart is the addition of black salt. I had never seen such an ingredient, so when I managed to stumble upon it at the Indian grocer last week, well I grabbed it specifically so that I could try this recipe. If you've never seen or used black salt, it's really kind of pink looking. And the reason that it's so good in this recipe is because it's salt that contains deposits of sulfur, so when you add it to a mock egg salad, it makes it taste, well, like eggs. This stuff was really easy to make, and it's delicious to boot. I did alter the recipe a little by mixing in a little Vegenaise at the end. I also added a little sweet pickle relish, just because that's the way that I always had egg salad. The next time I make it I might even increase the amounts of black salt & vinegar (maybe add some vinegar in directly at the end instead of just boiling the tofu in it and then draining). I really like that "deviled egg" taste, so I would be all for any way to increase it. The texture of the tofu ends up being strikingly similar to eggs. I dare say even an omni might like it, if they like egg salad.

I brought a light bun to put my egg salad on, along with some lettuce & tomato. It's easier to fit a bun in the lunchbox than big square bread slices. That, plus I was out of sliced bread. HA! I used it all up this weekend making toast to eat this egg salad on. HEY! I have to properly test the recipe before showing it on here. ;o)

I did pack the egg salad in its own container so it wouldn't get the bread all soggy before lunchtime.

Then I brought my two standard sides, some greens, mustard greens to be exact, cooked up with some onion & garlic, and some roasted potatoes & onions that I just cooked up in the toaster oven and sprinkled with a little garlic salt & Montreal seasoning. YUM!

That filled the lunchbox up, leaving no room for dessert, but I think I've got enough calories here anyway. And speaking of calories, after a couple of weeks of watching my weight stick at 201 lbs. I am happy to report that my weight this weekend was 199 lbs. YIPEE! I lost another two pounds and am finally below that 200 mark. I feel so much better now that my weight starts with a number 1 instead of a number 2. That leaves me with only 14 more pounds to go in order to get to my goal of 185 lbs. I would actually like to go a little lower than that, but if I can just make it there I will be very pleased. I think one thing that finally got my weight loss moving again this week was the fact that I started using my new pedometer to keep track of my walking. Until I got it, I had just assumed that I was getting in the recommended 10000 steps a day. Well, I wasn't. I was actually only getting in 6000-7000 steps. It definitely helped to have a piece of equipment to count my steps for me so that I could make sure that I was doing as much as I thought I was doing. It shows distance & calories too, which is cool. It's so nice to look at that thing and see that I've burned 571 calories walking a couple of times a day. It helps keep me encouraged to be able to put a number on it like that.

Anyway, that means I've lost 26 lbs. so far, and I can tell. Only 14 more (at least) to go. And on another health related note, listen to this. My blood pressure has always been high, and I am currently taking medication for it. As you know, normal BP is 120/80, but before I started medication, it was not uncommon for me to check mine and get a reading of 150/110 or something like that. So I started the medication a few years ago. I hate taking pills, but I HAD to get that down. Even with the pills though, it would normally run 129/87, just a little bit on the high side. Well, the last time I checked it, while on medication, it was a little high like that (129/87) and that was 2 weeks ago. I haven't lost any additional weight in the past two weeks, but there was one significant change in my lifestyle, I started drinking green smoothies. I don't know if they're the cause for this, or not, but now, the last time I checked my blood pressure it was 105/69. WOW! What a difference. I don't feel light headed either. I've checked it several days in a row and it is holding down there. I am inclined to think that consuming all those greens has something to do with this because that's really the only thing that has changed in the past two weeks.

I have an appointment with my new doctor coming up, so I will be excited to tell him about this. Hopefully, we will cut the dosage of that medicine down and see what it does and, eventually, I'll be able to stop taking that stuff. Anyway, I don't know why I got off on a rant about that. I'm just excited that my blood pressure is that low, and I honestly think it's happened just from eating lots of greens. I'm sure the weight loss helps too, but I've lost lots of weight before (and then gained it back) and I've never seen my BP this low. I guess I should add that disclaimer here that I am not a doctor and am not giving medical advice. It will be interesting to see what he says about it though.

At any rate, that was my lunch for Monday. The Eggless Deviled Egg Tofu Salad is delicious, especially on toast, and I highly recommend trying it.

Thanks for coming by today. See everybody on Tuesday!
YUMMY MUSTARD GREENSROASTED POTATOES & ONIONSLIGHT BUN, LETTUCE & TOMATOVEGAN DEVILED EGG SALADFORK & SPOON

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow! congratulations on your health improvements! I hope you continue to succeed in accomplishing your goals - I'm sure you will!

Tracy said...

Wow, that's a huge improvement! Congrats!

Ms. Meander said...

it's fantastic to read about your blood pressure coming down! the wonders of losing weight.

i thought about you the other night when we went out to the accoustic coffeehouse to listen to a band. i keep missing you by 24 hours all over town, it seems. the last 2 times you were at Cootie Brown's it was the day before or after we were there.

NightOwl said...

Ken, I'm so proud of you! You're doing such a fantastic job, and I love how you remain positive and upbeat about it. That's the exact attitude to have. You're doing this!

kennyboy said...

THANKS EVERYBODY!

I need to get back down to the coffehouse soon melanie. It's been forever since I've been there.

I need to get back to your shop too. (MOTHER'S DAY!) My mom loved that soap that I got her so I need to grab some more. I'm almost out too. So don't be surprised in I wander in during the next day or two.

:o)