Vegan "Chicken" Salad

Don't mock me!

When my boyfriend proclaimed that he had eaten delicious vegan chicken salad from an unknown prepared foods company that sells its products at a corner store in Sunnyside, Queens, I was inspired to put the block of firm tofu sitting in my fridge to use for such a dish. I made the vegan chicken salad pictured above using a recipe from a food and health blog that I trust: Eating Bird Food. The site's blogger, Brittany Mullins, based her recipe on Whole Foods' version of the salad. Both my boyfriend and I were very pleased with the results: the savory salad may not have the texture of chicken, but the tofu - often described as a blank slate in the food world - soaks up the flavors of the spices, lemon juice, and tamari (which can be substituted with soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos) and the sliced almonds add a nice crunch! In fact, this salad tastes even better the next day, as the tofu pieces are more flavorful when given the time to marinate.