If you ask people about a traditional Polish salad for the holidays or special occasions, I have a feeling most Poles would say “jarzynowa,” which literally just means vegetable salad. This name is reserved for just one salad, and there is no mistaking it. For me, the holidays are just not the same without it. I have been making a vegan version of it for years, but this year I finally dared to experiment a bit with the ingredients.
Let me start by telling you about the original “traditional” ingredients: potatoes, carrots, peas, onions, apples, pickles, eggs, mayonnaise, salt, pepper. I’ve been making it for years substituting mayonnaise with store-bought vegan mayo and the eggs with tofu. This year I decided to make my own mayo, and although there are plenty of recipes on the web for vegan mayo, I am sharing my variation of the recipe with you here.
Below are three recipes:
- vegan mayo
- my traditional vegan vegetable salad
- a variation I made this year
Vegan Mayo
Ingredients 360 g (12 oz.) firm tofu freshly squeezed juice from ½ lemon 3 teaspoons cold-pressed linseed oil (or olive oil) 1 tsp. sea salt 1-2 tsp. mustard 3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed) pinch of tandoori masala (I use the mix from TRS) dash of cayenne pepper ½ – 1 cup lukewarm boiled water (enough to achieve the desired consistency) Instructions- Press tofu to squeeze out excess water. I usually press it wrapped in paper towels between two wooden cutting boards with a pitcher on top.
- Place all ingredients, except the water, in a blender and blend. Add enough water to achieve the desired consistency. (For these salads, I wanted a pretty watery version, so I used 1 cup of water.)
Vegetable Salad Version 1 (vegan traditional)
Ingredients 6 large potatoes 2-3 medium carrots 1½ – 2 cups frozen peas (or 1 can) 1-2 onions 1 large apple 2-3 pickles 6-8 oz. firm tofu 1-2 tsp. mustard enough vegan mayo to cover the veggies (about half of the above recipe) salt and pepper to taste Instructions- Wash potatoes and carrots well, but do not peel. Cook both until soft, drain the water and let cool. (My mother would do this step in the morning and let the veggies cool until we were ready to make the salad in the afternoon.)
- Cook the peas (skip this step if you are using canned peas, although remember that frozen or fresh peas don’t have all that sodium).
- Once the potatoes and carrots are cooled, dice them, chop up the onions, apple and pickles and put into a fairly large bowl. Add the peas. Dice up the tofu and add to the rest. Mix in mustard, mayo and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Vegetable Salad Version 2 (pictured above)
Ingredients 6 large potatoes 2-3 medium carrots 1½ – 2 cups frozen peas (or 1 can) ½ leek 1-2 large apples 4-5 celery stalks 1-2 tsp. mustard enough vegan mayo to cover the veggies (about half of the above recipe) salt and pepper to taste Instructions- Wash potatoes and carrots well, but do not peel. Cook both until soft, drain the water and let cool.
- Cook the peas.
- Once the potatoes and carrots are cooled, dice them, chop up the leek, apple and celery and put into a fairly large bowl. Add the peas. Mix in mustard, mayo and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Confessions of a broccoli addict 