When it comes to a wholesome and nutritious meal, my go-to choice is my Vegan Chickpea No-Tuna Salad. The reason behind this is that it is loaded with essential nutrients, healthy fats, protein and fiber. Moreover, this salad tastes even better with time, making it an ideal meal prep option. You can either enjoy it as is or pair it with a sandwich. However, my personal preference is to have it with crackers!
Let’s look at the key ingredients:
- Mashed chickpeas combined with fresh celery and red onions make a good combo of textures and flavours.
- My homemade tofu-based vegan mayo adds a tasty punch of protein and nutrients.
- Dried nori sheets provide a hint of umami.
If you want this salad to taste like a classic tuna salad, I recommend adding chopped gherkins and/or capers. Combining these two ingredients with seaweed, mayo, and chickpeas makes a missing tuna in the salad unnoticeable.
Originally this salad was supposed to resemble a tuna salad, but in my opinion, it’s so much better and deserves its spotlight.
As I mentioned, this salad contains nutritious ingredients packed with various vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. For instance, chickpeas are a great source of healthy fibre, protein, folate, copper, and iron. Similarly, tofu-based mayonnaise contains an excellent amount of protein, healthy fats, and minerals such as calcium, selenium, and manganese. Additionally, celery and red onion are fantastic antioxidant sources, and seaweed is a source of omega-3.
Hot tip: To achieve a smoother texture after squashing, I recommend removing the skins of the chickpeas. It would be best if you aimed to mash 80% of the chickpeas and leave some unbroken. You can use a fork or a food processor for this process.
Vegan Chickpea No-Tuna Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 1 tbsp capers finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp gherkins finely chopped (optional)
- 2 sheets nori chopped
Vegan mayo:
- 1 block tofu soft
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Place the chickpeas in a large bowl, and mash them through with a fork.
- Add in the chopped celery, onion, capers, gherkins and nori sheets.
- Add soft tofu, nutritional yeast, mustard, chia seeds, lemon juice and salt to a blender or a food processor to make the vegan mayo. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Taste the salad and adjust seasoning by adding a pinch of salt and freshly-cracked black pepper.
- For the best experience, chill the salad in the fridge overnight before serving. Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days.
