Chickpea ‘Tuna’ Salad Sandwich
I ate tuna salad sandwiches pretty frequently growing up. When I was little, I remember getting a specific tuna salad for lunch (from Grand Union) on days I went to work with my mom. We would get the tuna and a plain bagel and I would assemble them into a sandwich… it was so good! And also the only fish I would ever eat (likely because it was always mixed with lots of mayo and relish). As I got older, the can of tuna totally grossed me out. So it wasn’t until recently that I even tried to find a replacement, and chickpeas totally do the trick.
This fake-out tuna salad is delicious and with chickpeas as the base, it is packed with plant based protein. Mash the chickpeas up until they are almost all broken down, no full chickpeas left. To that, add finely chopped onion and celery which add flavor and crunch. Mayonnaise (which could easily be a vegan mayo), dijon mustard and sweet relish bring it all together with those classic tuna salad flavors. Add some salt and pepper to taste and the chickpea (tuna fake out) salad is all done and ready to go! It is so simple, there is no reason not to try it. It is perfect piled onto a sandwich for lunch or throw a big scoop onto a bowl of greens to add more substance to your salad. Enjoy!
Chickpea 'Tuna' Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1/2 teaspoon dijion mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 slices of bread
- 1/2 avocado
- pickles
- handful of greens
Instructions
- MASH: Start by putting the chickpeas in a medium size mixing bowl and mashing them.
- COMBINE: Then add the remaining chickpea salad ingredients and stir to get everything combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- ASSEMBLE: To make the sandwich, mash half an avocado onto one slice of bread then pile on the chickpea salad. Top with pickles and greens and the other slice of bread. Then, enjoy!