Low-Fat Mayonnaise and Chicken Salad

The Story: 

Day 13 of low-fat gallbladder diet, and I feel like I'm starting to learn a few things.  Yes, I started eating a bit healthier (and much fresher) when Matt and I got married, but these days, as Matt said tonight, "Look at us!  We're eating healthy! No butter in this meal."  And it's true.  And it even tastes alright.

Since I was recently told that there is more protein in chicken thighs than in breasts (and they taste better), we have switched to dark meat.  It involves a lot more trimming of visible fat before coking, but it does taste better, and the smell of the meat cooking is more tolerable for me (and reminds me of my grandma's house while I was growing up). 

I never really thought I would be making my own mayonnaise, much less low-fat vegan mayonnaise, but here we are.



The Recipe:

Low-Fat Vegan Mayonnaise (both recipes from http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/low-fat-vegan-chicken-salad/)
7 oz. soft tofu
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
(This recipe also calls for 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, which I omitted, and wants Splenda rather than sugar.  But Splenda is nasty bad.)

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. 

Transfer to small saucepan and cook over medium heat until it thickens, stirring and mashing constantly with rubber spatula.  Cook until almost desired consistency, then remove from heat, and continue stirring to cool and remove lumps.  It will continue to thicken after removed from heat.

I didn't measure the ingredients and so mine was pretty thick to begin with.  I wish I would have thinned it a bit, or measured, to get a thinner product from the beginning. 

Chicken Salad
2 chicken breast or 4 chicken thighs, all visible fat removed
1/4 cup Craisins
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 recipe of Low-Fat Vegan Mayonnaise
salt and pepper
other spices you'd like (dill, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, etc.)

Boil chicken in salted water until cooked through.  Remove from water and dice.

Cool chicken, then mix with Craisins, celery, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper and other desired spices.

Serve chilled (or warm, if desired) on crackers, pita, sliced bread, etc.  I ate mine with lettuce and chopped tomato on a 96% fat free tortilla.  Matt ate his with tomatoes as a lettuce wrap.



The Verdict:

I am pretty excited to have some semblance of mayonnaise (Matt roasted a turkey the other night and what good is a leftover turkey sandwich without mayo?).  It tastes pretty decent.  There is a slight grit to it and a bit of a strange grain-y taste to it, but it tastes like mayonnaise, and Matt says it tasted better than regular mayonnaise (this from the man who enjoys eating a slice of salami spread with butter and mayonnaise as a snack).  I am left wondering what would have happened if I had added the oil. 

The chicken salad was also good, but seemed to be lacking something.  We were both slightly skeptical about the Craisins at first (and of course I left out the celery for Matt's sake) but agreed they were a nice touch to the salad. 

Overall, a healthy, refreshing, and not-bad-tasting dish.  And I am pretty pumped about sharing this mayo recipe with some of my more health-conscious friends and relatives.  I can't believe I made it and it tastes good!  Brilliant!  Thanks once again, LIVESTRONG.com!