Wednesday, December 9, 2009

It's a Wrap!

So it's like 20-something degrees here in Memphis. That's soup or casserole weather in these parts, but for some reason, I've been craving tofu egg salad ever since the mercury started to drop. Weird, I know. But I enjoyed every bite of this Eggless Egg Salad Wrap today, despite the frigid temperatures:

This recipe is also going in my cookbook. It was originally a Seitan "Chicken" Salad, but I wasn't feeling the seitan in the same way that I was feeling tofu in cold salad sandwich spread. So I subbed out firm tofu, keeping the rest of the ingredients the same as they were when I developed the recipe with seitan ... oh, I did add one secret optional ingredient.

I served the salad on a Flatout Flatbread in Light Original. These are totally new to me, but I'm so in love with them. They're like really soft, whole wheat tortillas! And each wrap is only 90 calories.

I enjoyed the wrap with a snack-sized bag of Zapp's Hotter 'n' Hot Jalapeno chips (the official chip of New Orleans) that I picked up in New Orleans in October. Yep, I totally stocked up on all flavors of Zapp's in NOLA, even though I can buy them in Memphis too. I feel like they taste more authentic having come directly from New Orleans.

UPDATE: One of my commenters, Shannon, pointed out that Flatout wraps contain L-cysteine, which is derived from animal proteins. Suck! I didn't even know about that ingredient not being vegan. But I double-checked on my Food Additives iPhone app, and it says L-cysteine is a flour treatment agent derived from animal proteins (including hair). I'll probably finish the ones I purchased because I don't like to waste food, but I will certainly not be buying them again. Damn.

27 comments:

Jamie said...

Ohhh, that sounds really good right now.

Lisa Marie said...

That looks delicious! I made myself a chicken salad wrap on Flatout Bread today as well. It was my first time trying out the bread. Quite tasty and like you said, very soft.

The Voracious Vegan said...

Oooh I love a good tofu salad sandwich, but I've never tried one in a wrap. That sounds like a great idea. I know I say this every time, but I am SO looking forward to your cookbook!

Don't forget to check out my new blog: http://thevoraciousvegan.com/

Unknown said...

I LOVED the Flatout Bread when i first tried it. Unfortunately, after writing to the company, i discovered that they are NOT vegan. They contain L-cysteine that is sourced from animal products.

Tanya said...

Love love FlatOut!

Mary said...

Mmmm. There's never a bad time of year for tofu egg salad. And jalapeno chips sounds awesome!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, that "egg" salad looks so delicious. I can't wait to get your cookbook :)

Sending your package out to you tomorrow. Sorry it took me so long but I think you will really enjoy it!

Tanya said...

I love those Flatout breads! And I hope you picked up a bunch of the Creole Tomato Zapp's! Those are my favorite, even though I can't really eat them all the time.....but seeing as how I live here, I'm surrounded! They even have a sweet potato chip now, but I haven't tried it.

The Chubby Vegetarian said...

I love that you have a 90 calorie flatbread next to potato chips. it's all about balance. Right?

I'll bet your secret ingredient is that salt you said tastes just like eggs. what was it again?

Leslie Richman said...

Oooh I love Zapp's!

Happy Older Hippie Woman! said...

For every season there is an egg salad, and your wrap looks great!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info on L-cysteine. I didn't that it was animal derived either.

Tofu "egg" salad sounds good. I was never much of a fan of real egg salad, but I'm sure I'd like the tofu version.

Carbzilla said...

Hair????? Ewwww.

Vegan In The VI said...

Glad I got sick of Flatouts a few years ago. If you eat enough of them, they start to taste really processed. Thanks for the heads up on the ingrediants.

dreaminitvegan said...

Looks great used in a wrap. My husband love tofu "egg" salad.

Cyn said...

Oh man, I love tofu egg salad so much. I can't wait to try this.

aTxVegn said...

Oh, what a shame about Flatout. That is such a cool product.

jessy said...

i would be enjoying that eggless salad no matter how cold it was too, Bianca - it looks so darn delicious! thanks for the update on the l-cysteine. i had no idea & appreciate the heads up.

stay warm & happy almost-friday! squeeeeeeeee!

abyssal said...

That looks dee-lish - I love tofu egg salad. I'll be anxious to try yours once your cookbook is published! :) I recently made a seitan chicken salad with raisins and cashews, copied from the Food Network, which was really good.

miss v said...

thanks for posting the update about the flatout wraps... i've been tempted to buy them before, but hadn't checked all the ingredients... now i know!

Heather said...

I used to buy flat out wraps all the time until I found that out. If you can find Joseph's Oat Lavash Wraps anywhere near you, then I would check those out! They've got soy protein isolate in them which can be a negative, but if you aren't opposed to that, they're pretty yummy!

Katie T said...

Well, I'm not sure WHERE the L-cysteine comes from of course, but what it's actually nothing more than an essential amino acid - you know, the building blocks that all proteins are made of. All proteins - from animal and plant sources - contain different amino acids in varying amounts.
So it's theoretically possible that the L-cysteine could have come from a plant protein source...but if your iPhone app says it's usually an animal protein derivative, I'd probably trust that just to be safe.

Anonymous said...

Cysteine is not necessarily from animal protein, according to Wikipedia:

Cysteine is found in most high-protein foods, including:

* Animal sources: pork, sausage meat, chicken, turkey, duck, luncheon meat, eggs, milk, whey protein, ricotta, cottage cheese, yogurt
* Vegan sources: red peppers, garlic, onions, broccoli, brussels sprouts, oats, granola, wheat germ


Their FAQs on their site don't say, but they do say that all flatouts are processed on equipment that process whey.

Michal said...

This looks delish! :)

Anonymous said...

Um I know this is really really late but to counter some of the commenters above L-cys would typically come from animal sources because L enantiomers of amino acids are derived from animals and D from plant/microorganisms (if I remember my Biochem properly)... although most of L-cys is now industrially produced from particular cultured bacterial strains. Even Dominos and Subway use this source now-yet others like Flatout don't and omit any mention of being unsuitable for vegetarians/vegans and not kosher either relying on 'don't ask don't tell' to keep sales up. So frustrating- I think Flatout et al need some 'outing' and nagging!!!!

Eric said...

Very late, but to let anyone checking know, they are not vegan, they use duck hair.

Charity said...

Just to let you know they stopped using l-cysteine in June and the new one coming out in September/October will not have this in them. Might want to check back then, they are pretty tasty. (from Flatout's Facebook page) "as of June 1st L-Cysteine has been removed from Flatout Light Original, Flatout Light Italian Wraps and Flatout Honey Wheat, as well as from Foldit Traditional White and Foldit Five Grain. The new packaging with out L-Cysteine in the ingredients is going to be on store shelves in September or October. We are in the process of taking it out of our other flavors and are sourcing alternative ingredients. Thank you for your feedback!"