Vegan, Raw "Tuna" Salad

Saturday, as per our Cleanse, we stuck to a strictly raw diet. In the past, I have stuck to raw veggies and fruits, but got bored very quickly. I just could not understand how people live off of a raw diet. A few months ago, however, I had the privilege of trying a raw cracker at Candle 79 in NYC, and finally started to realize that a raw diet had a lot more to offer.

On a separate occasion, I found myself in Philadelphia at Redding Terminal at the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar (which is, oddly enough, right across from a Poultry shop...) and found something very interesting on the menu. They had carrot "tuna," which confused me, but intrigued me enough to try it. I had a carrot tuna veggie burger with the only vegan cheese I've actually enjoyed. I loved it (and my boyfriend, Matt, loved his vegan Philly cheesesteak) so much that I had to find a recipe. That's when i cam across this website: http://goneraw.com/node/572. I immediately tried it and, despite the effort, it became a staple dish in my kitchen.

On the forum, they recommend using a raw mayonnaise made from cashews. Originally, I was a little uneasy about this, but it was so easy to make and tastes amazingly! I don't really like the taste of regular mayonnaise, and I also don't really like any vegan options that I've tried. The best part about this is that you can add more of something and adjust the consistency to cater to whatever you'd like!

We decided to make this for our raw day. It even passed the tests of our omnivorous friends!

The basic recipe for carrot "tuna" is simple: you use the pulp leftover from making carrot juice. As much as carrots are one of my favorite vegetables, I absolutely cannot stand carrot juice. It is, however, useful in recipes, soups or even as food coloring, so it does come in handy. When I make anything with carrots, I don't peel them. A lot of the nutrients are found on the outer part of the carrot, so I make sure I wash them well and I cut the ends off. Cutting them into slightly smaller pieces might make juicing (or pulping, I guess we can call it) a little easier.

I used a Magic Bullet with a juicer insert, however I'm sure it would be a lot easier with a higher quality juicer. While the Magic Bullet may be convenient, if you can afford it, it's probably worth getting a good one.

Push the carrots into the juicer, emptying the liquid every so often. The idea is to get as much juice squeezed out as possible. The contents left over in the juicer will have a very similar consistency to tuna fish. Empty the pulp, removing any large pieces of carrot. I highly recommend NOT eating these...the worst part about this recipe is that you end up eating more while you're making it so that you're full by the time it's ready!! Pulp the leftover pieces of carrot and add to the bowl. That's pretty much it! Now, you have your tuna. I like to add dulse flakes, which are dried bits of sea vegetable, or kelp to add a little fishy flavor.

The carrots are the physically demanding part (it takes a bit of elbow grease to do the pulping) but the cashew mayo is the culinarily hard part. It is, of course, my favorite part. I say that it's hard because there is no one set of measurements. It's sort of trial and error...with a lot of taste testing. I would make sure that you have plenty of all the ingredients available because trust me, you're going to need to add more of something.

Cashew Mayonnaise Basic Ingredients:

Cashews
Water
Lemon (juice)
Garlic
Sea Salt
Apple Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil

I normally start with 1 cup of cashews, the juice of half a lemon, one clove of garlic, about 1/4 a tsp of sea salt (10 turns of the salt mill), a dash of oil and vinegar. Eyeball the water so that there is about half as much liquid as there are cashews. Blend and taste. I suggest adding more lemon and vinegar to get the taste right. I don't normally like vinegar, but I've noticed adding more is the best way to get the taste right. If the mayonnaise is too thick, add more water. If it's too thin, add more cashews. This is the point where you'll be tasting so much that you're bound to get full...but it's so tasty!!



Once you've gotten the right consistency, pour the mixture in a little at a time to the carrot pulp. Because we were making it for a lot of people, we used about 5 or 6 large carrots and I had to make a double batch of the cashew mayonnaise (we used about 1 and 1/2 batches.) This is why I mentioned making sure that you have plenty of all the ingredients (Matt had to run out to the store to get more cashews!) Once you make it a few times, you'll figure out how much of everything you'll need to get the right taste.

Now, add whatever you'd like to the mixture to make it more "tuna salady." I always add finely chopped celery, and this time I tried adding green onions which worked out nicely. I've used regular yellow onions before, but their taste is normally too overpowering. The subtler green onion flavor melds smoothly with the carrot "tuna" mixture. I have yet to try this, but my mom, when making real tuna salad, added dill. I wish she had told me this before I made it because I think dill would add such a great flavor! I will definitely be trying that next. Some other things that you might want to try are capers, chopped peppers, fresh herbs like parsley, curry, soy (or tamari) sauce or even some cheese like parmesan or feta. I try to add something new every time I make it to play with the flavor.
Carrot "tuna" salad can be served in a variety of ways, just like regular tuna salad. Grab a fork and dig in or make a sandwich. Our friend, who was not following a raw diet that day, made a big sandwich and enjoyed it immensely. Matt and I tried two raw options. We wrapped up the salad in a big piece of organic romaine lettuce and ate it like a burrito. We also tried it on raw crackers, (Two Moms in the Raw) which were stupendous! You may also want to try it in a wrap, stuffed in peppers or as a topping on a veggie burger. Leftover cashew mayonnaise makes a great addition to any veggie burger or sandwich, as well.