Insteada-Tuna Melt from Sharon's Simple Recipes for Joy
A photo collage from Sharon’s Master Class in Montreal, November 2014
This recipe comes from Sharon Gannon’s (one of the co-founders of Jivamukti Yoga) vegan cookbook Simple Recipes for Joy. She visited Montreal on her book tour in 2014 and Luna Yoga hosted a special event where she taught a Master Class and the wonderful local vegan bakery Sophie Sucrée made some of the recipes which we served after class.
*Note that I made some adjustments to the original recipe
Ingredients
1 pack of Tempeh (I use Noble Bean)
~1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (I like Mama Yo)
~1/4 cup rice vinegar
2-3 stalks celery finely chopped (or more if desired)
2-3 shallots minced (or more if desired)
1/2 tsp kelp powder (if you can find it)
1 teaspoon dulse flakes
salt and pepper to taste
your favourite vegan cheese
Instructions
Combine all ingredients. (I have difficulty finding kelp powder. I found it once at Rachèle Bery. I don’t find that it does anything for the taste, so can be left out if you cannot find it. For the mayonnaise and rice vinegar ratio I would recommend you add a bit at a time of each until you get the consistency and taste that you like. The original recipe called for brown rice vinegar, but again, I had difficulty finding it so I used rice vinegar instead. You can also replace the shallots with onion.)
Add Insteada-Tuna mixture to a slice of bread and top with your favourite vegan cheese (mine is any cheese from Nafsika!)
Heat in 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes and then increase temperature to 450 degrees for another 5 minutes approximately. You can also broil for the last minute if desired. (Keep an eye out! Everyone’s oven is different)
Add any other desired condiments to your sandwich and enjoy! (My boss Jason likes it with yellow mustard and I’ve enjoyed it this way ever since trying it)
You can also enjoy the Insteada-Tuna on crackers or sliced cucumbers… and make them into little hors d’oeuvres!