Better'n Chicken Salad Tangy Wraps

The picture does not convey the yumness. This is because I made 240 of these and photography was not a strong point by 10 pm when I finished all the chopping, mixing, and wrapping.

From the Delight Soy site.

Intros and Inspirations

The Earth Day Festival, Durham, NC. Chickens. Connection between diet & planet. The Delight Soy “I cannot believe it's not chicken” patties (pictured above) owned/distributed by nice folks (pictured below) from Morrisville.

The owners of Delight Soy of Morrisville. They are like celebrities. Or, as I mentioned to them, drug dealers (if drugs are Delight Soy patties).

History of Dish

I had never made Chicken Salad, vegan or otherwise, ever. But I kind of had a feeling that anything you do with the delicious Delight Soy patties could not go wrong. Except maybe making soy sundaes with them.

After a few searches on the web, I did not find any recipes that looked good to me, but did get the gist of what goes into Chicken Salad, and used these ideas to create this version.

I made about 240 to give away for free at the Earth Day Festival. Huge thanks to VegFund for sponsoring the giveaway, which included literature from Vegan Outreach and Compassion Over Killing as well.

"Free samples?"

I actually stood during most of the event from 12-5. Martyr points, check.

I've reduced the recipe here for normal household use.

Yield

About 15 burrito-size wraps, or 60 bite-sized, depending on amount of filling placed in the wrap and the size of the wrap. And how much you eat while you're making this delicious mix.

Ingredients / Mixing/Blending

Chop finely:

• 4 cups Soy Delight brand “chicken” patties*
• 5 green onions (scallions)
• 6 stalks celery
• ½ cup red bell pepper
• 1 Tablespoon fresh dill

Mix together:

• ½ cup sweet relish
• 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 cup Vegenaise* (add another 1/2 cup if you prefer very creamy)
  
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt

Combine the chopped ingredients with the above mix. Spread on bread for a sandwich, or wrap up in a tortilla.

* Both Soy Delight patties and Vegenaise are available at the Whole Foods Market.

Eating

Festival goers enjoying the wraps. Even the kids loved them.

I could not believe how well these were received. Many people found us after others had told them how good they were. Folks could not believe they were not actually chicken. Most wanted the recipe, which is another reason I'm posting it here.

Special note to Durham restaurants: carry this product!

Optional:

Several versions online contained scary things like raisins. Add at your own peril! Spicy chipotle powder would be a delicious addition.

Conclusion

Best summarized by one attendee, who said: “If this ain't chicken, then what's in my mouth?”

Rob Beloved with his tray and soy chicken wrap love.

Special thanks to those who helped hand out literature as well, and to everyone who tried a sample.

Petite BABS Muffins

Intros and Inspirations

These banana-apple-blueberry-strawberry muffins are so fruity they belong in a basket.

With all the touring and new-website making there has not been a lot of time for documenting food creations. Know that food has been created, enjoyed, eaten, and stored as body fat -- all undocumented except for the latter.

Rob's a sucker for a good muffin, and after several hints (“Mmmmuffins!” or the classic, “I love muffins!”) I gave in. In the past, I might have used Agave nectar to sweeten these bad'ns, but though they are brave little muffins, they cannot be mingled with the devil himself.

History of Dish

Muffins can be traced back to 10^th century England, but the American variety popular today arrived later, adding the moulds since the batter mixture was unable to stand alone like dough. Weak!

Potash was used to make them rise until baking powder was created around 1857. Muffins were promoted as healthier than doughnuts (kind of like cigarettes are better than crack?) but to ensure long shelf-life, additional fats and sugars were added and we were back to square one, or cupcake impersonations.

Yield and Pre-heat

Preheat the oven to 350 (or 375 if your oven runs colder than mine).

Makes 10 smaller muffins, or 8 larger.

Ingredients

Wet:

• ½ apple, shredded with grater

• 1 cup soy milk

• 1 t apple cider vinegar

• 1 crushed banana

• ¼ cup blue berries

• ¼ cup chopped strawberries

• ¼ cup canola oil

• 1 t vanilla

Dry:

• 1 ¼ cup flour (whole wheat pastry or all purpose)

• 2 T ground flaxseed

• ½ cup powdered sugar

• 1 t cinnamon

• ½ t nutmeg

• 2 t baking powder

• ½ t salt

Mixing/Blending

Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl, the dry in another. Fold the dry into the wet, stirring slowly with a wooden spoon, just enough to mix, lumps are OK. Overstirring causes flat, dense, depressed muffins. Nobody wants that.

Baking

Scoop batter into cups – lined or not. Using paper cups will not give you a crust on the outside, so choose according to preference.

Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes.

Eating

Let cool first. Do I need to say this?

Optional:

Add walnuts to make them BAWBS.

Conclusion

Rob was happy.

History Sources:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Sweet-History-of-Muffins&id=145416

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffin