Raw Vegan NoTuna Salad

So we've been going to this awesome little cafe lately. It's called Portia's Cafe, and Portia serves mostly raw, totally gluten free, mostly soy free, completely vegan food. She's a lifesaver. And very nice, to boot! Unfortunately, she's on the other side of town, so we are limited to one visit every week or so. On second thought, that's probably fortunate.

Now, my absolute favorite is her raw Pad Thai served over kelp noodles. It's not technically on the menu, though.  It's frequently on the "Specials" board, but sometimes I can't get it. So on one of those shattering occasions, I ordered a NoTuna Wrap (a.k.a Sunny Walnut Pate), and I fell in love. So I came home and figured out how to make my own.  It's not exactly like Portia's, but it's close.

It kind of looks like tuna salad. It doesn't taste much like it. Which is good, because I'm not a fan of tuna. I piled it on some Ezekiel 4:9 bread with shredded carrots (a must!), salad greens, tomato, and pickles. Last time I made it I also added sprouts and cucumber slices.  I was out of sprouts.  It was unfortunate. The sprouts and the carrots totally make the sandwich.

It's raw and soy free and sooooo good.  Portia uses Bubbies pickles. I had never heard of Bubbies, but they are amazing. And raw. I know we said we weren't going to be raw food vegans, but I'm finding we're leaning more toward raw food the longer we stay on this whole foods regimen.

Anyway, I get Bubbies at the local health food market/co-op. I've never seen them in a grocery store.

But, without further ado, here is my cobbled-together recipe for notuna salad!

NoTuna Salad
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked for 4-6 hours
1 cup raw walnuts, soaked for 4-6 hours
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp kelp granules
1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1 Tbs dill weed
3-4 Tbs cold pressed olive oil*
2 celery ribs, diced
2 Bubbies, diced

Place seeds, nuts, lemon juice, kelp, salt, and dill in a food processor and process.  Drizzle in olive oil while processing.  It may get clumpy so be prepared to stop and scrape a time or two. Once all the olive oil is added, if you think you need more liquid, splash in a little pickle juice until you get a consistency almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tuna salad. Just kidding. It will be similar to tuna salad. Remove from the food processor, place in a bowl and stir in the chopped pickles and celery. Serve in a wrap, over salad greens, or as a sandwich. Or just eat it out of the container with a spoon. Whatever. Just finish it in a few days.

*Next time I shall use coconut oil. I'm not a big fan of olive oil.

Well, that's all for now.

Enjoy!