As someone who doesn’t eat much soy (which is the main ingredient in most vegan lunch”meat”), one non-vegan food option I’ve missed is sandwiches beyond my trusty PB&J. This recipe from Vegan for Her is a very satisfying substitute for tuna or egg salad. It comes together in under fifteen minutes, so it’s easy to make yourself a few days worth of lunches without investing a whole evening cooking. This mix goes well on bread, tortillas, pita, or crackers. I think you could even use it as a dip at a party if you paired it with pita chips or raw veggies. Enjoy!
Makes: 4-5 sandwiches
If you need this to be gluten-free, just use GF bread or tortilla or pita bread.
Shopping List
Fresh Produce
- 1 Roma tomato
- 1-2 stalks celery (optional)
- Lettuce leaves, sliced tomato, or other veggie toppings to dress up the sandwich (optional)
Spices & Seasonings
- Dried minced onion
- Sea salt
- Nutritional yeast
- Garlic powder
Other Groceries
- 1 can chickpeas (garbonzo beans)
- Vegan mayonnaise
- Pickle slices, a pickle spear, or sweet relish
- Bread, tortilla, pita, crackers, etc. (your choice, GF if needed)
Equipment
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- Food processor (or a lot of patience and muscle smoothly mashing the garbonzo beans by hand)
Ingredients & Directions
- Mash the chickpeas.
- 1 can chickpeas – rinsed and drained
Pour the chickpeas into the food processor. Pulse until somewhat chunky/lumpy. (It will be a little flaky, don’t worry.) You want some texture left, so don’t try to smooth it out like yogurt or hummus.
- Put it all together.
- 1 Roma tomato – diced tiny
- 1.5 Tbsp. dried minced onion
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1.5 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp. vegan mayonnaise
- 2 sandwich pickle slices or 1 pickle spear or 1 Tbsp. sweet relish – chopped very tiny if using pickles
- 1-2 stalks celery – finely diced (optional)
Transfer the mashed chickpeas to the medium mixing bowl. Fold in the rest of the ingredients. Stir until evenly mixed. (Yes, you could use the food processor to do all the mixing, but unless you have a fancy attachment I don’t have, you’ll get an overly smooth hummus-like texture that way. To preserve the slightly lumpy interesting egg salad-like texture, do all the mixing by hand with a big spoon or fork. It’s worth it, trust me.)
- Enjoy your way!
Spread on bread, wrap in a tortilla, fill a pita pocket, use as dip, spread on crackers, or enjoy in your own favorite creative way. Be sure to cover and refrigerate any leftovers and finish within a few days.
Source
Adapted from the “Chickpea Salad Sandwich” recipe on page 278 of Vegan for Her by Virginia Messina, MPH, RD, with JL Fields. I highly recommend this book to anyone exploring the world of veganism! Check it out in paperback or for Nook or Kindle.