Egg-less Deviled Egg Salad

Before I went vegan I used to enjoy my home made egg salad and deviled eggs. I have been contemplating how to re-create the taste and texture of these in a vegan recipe. And I think this is pretty darn close, and it is delicious!


The beans, slightly mashed and the chunks of avocado mimic the texture of egg yolk and the diced zucchini mimics the texture of a slightly firmer egg white. Then of course the flavors of the spices and creaminess of the veganaise bring the flavor of a deviled egg or egg salad. Yum!

Egg-less Deviled Egg Salad:
1 can of cannellini beans (preferably BPA free cans) or 1 1/2 cups soaked, cooked
2-3 tbsp organic veganaise or 1 mashed avocado
1 avocado diced
1/4 cup purple onion diced
2-3 sprigs of cilantro or basil minced
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground mustard powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp paprika
sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
sprinkle of hemp seeds for garnish

1 stalk of celery sliced (optional)
1/4 cup broccoli diced (optional)
1/2 carrot grated (optional)

Directions:
You can use canned beans or soak and cook your own. After cooking or out of the can, drain and rinse the beans well to reduce starchiness, add to a medium size bowl and mash a few with a fork. You don't want to mash too much, leave some whole. This kind of mimics the texture of the egg yolks. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the diced avocado and mix. After the salad is mixed well, add in the diced avocado and mix once again gently. You can serve this on bread, crackers, a bed of lettuce or even stuffed in a big red pepper!  Pictured is a bed of arugula, baby spinach, romaine, sliced radishes and halved sweet grape tomatoes. This serves 4 small servings or 2 larger main course type servings. The bowl of egg salad is actually doubled in this photo. You can easily store the left overs for a few days in the fridge!

In this recipe I added some broccoli and celery which adds a bit of a crunch to the otherwise soft texture of the beans and avocado. I also snuck in some grated carrot. To make a more authentic egg salad texture you can omit these if you like. Also, normally I'm not a big fan of using processed foods in my recipes, but this organic Veganaise is made from whole foods other than the soybean oil, which is expeller pressed. So while I wouldn't eat a ton of it, once in a while it's a creamy treat, especially in this recipe. If you have not had Veganaise before, it is seriously close as it gets to regular mayonaise, only a bit healthier! I recommend only using organic since it uses soy which is highly GMO'd.  The other option I have given, the mashed avocado, is a perfect whole foods choice. It is super healthy and delicious!