Marisa's Healthy Kitchen

Truly deeeeeelish!! Perfect picnic food! This was great to have in the house. I doubled the recipe and had it for lunch several times. Packs a punch of flavor! YUM! There are a bunch of ingredients in this dish, but it comes together sooo well!

Picnic Perfect Chicken-less Salad
adapted from Healthy, Happy Life

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
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp paprika
1 small orange, diced
1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
2 Tbsp dried 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

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.
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!