AFC TUNA MELT
Delight Soy Vegan Chicken nuggets chopped with celery, green pepper, onion and cilantro. Mixed with Pumpkin Seed Snow, sage and Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise to create a perfectly balanced Cilantro Tuna Salad. I know, I use vegan chicken to make my Tuna Melt, but it works, so who cares? It’s the best Tuna Melt I ever had!
Makes 2-3/4 cups
First make the salad:
1-1/2 c. Delight Soy Vegan Chicken Nuggets, cut into chunks
1 c. coarsely cut celery
1 c. coarsely cut green pepper
1/2 sm, yellow onion, coarsely cut
1 /2 t. salt plus to taste
fresh grind black pepper to taste
1 t. dried rubbed sage – or less of the ground-style
1/2 c. Pumpkin Seed Snow
1/3 c. seasoned panko crumbs
2 T. vegan (nutritional) yeast
finely chopped fresh cilantro tops (some small stems okay), as much as you want – I went with 1/2 c. loosely packed chopped
1/2 c. veg mayonnaise – I used Vegenaise Grapeseed Oil Mayo by Follow Your Heart
In food processor combine vegan chicken nuggets, celery, green pepper, onion, salt and black pepper. Process till chicken and veggies shred evenly, without turning the whole container into a liquid mess.
Transfer to large bowl.
Add sage, Pumpkin Seed snow, panko crumbs, vegan yeast and fresh cilantro.
Mix and stir till pumpkin snow, crumbs and yeast are not visible.
Add vegan mayo and stir till coated. Transfer to covered container and refrigerate till cold.
Now, to make Tuna Melt Per Sandwich:
2 slices firm white bread or whatever firm bread you use for grilling sandwiches
I used 2 types of cheeses and they both worked well.
2 Field Roast Plain Chao Cheese slices or 2 Daiya Swiss Style slices – preferably at room temperature.
AFC Tuna Salad
Fresh grind black pepper to taste
oil for grilling
Place 1 slice of vegan cheese on each slice of bread. Scoop the tuna salad onto one slice of cheese, then sprinkle the other slice of cheese with black pepper.
Close sandwich. Heat an oiled skillet. Place sandwich in center. Place saucepan cover over sandwich to trap some of the heat. When browned on one side, turn the sandwich over and repeat the grilling. Remove to plate, cut with fine serrated bread knife, being careful not to squish all the salad out of the edges.
Eat. Super rich, super good.
Notes: The yeast, Pumpkin Seed Snow and seasoned Panko crumbs function as flavor enhancers as well as binding agents that absorb some of the moisture from the vegan chicken and chopped veggies.
Make Pumpkin Seed Snow using an electric coffee bean grinder. Be sure it’s clean of coffee bean residue. Place raw, shelled pumpkin seeds in well of grinder leaving enough head space for the ‘swell’. Process till the seeds resemble light green fluffy snow.
I used Whole Foods Italian Sandwich bread for this sandwich with excellent grilling results. I doubt that I’ve had a bread better suited for toast and grilling than this one. It is definitely going to become a staple in my pantry.
CHEF DAVIES-TIGHT™ 