vegan chickpea “tuna” smash

picture this - It’s almost lunchtime and you only have a few minutes to throw something together before your next meeting. Then you remember you started stocking your cabinet with all sorts of beans & legumes (*chickpeas are considered legumes) for just this predicament. You grab a can of chickpeas and you quickly drain and rinse them. Next you grab your celery and onion and do some quick speedy chopping. Before you know it, your lunch is almost ready (directions below) and you have time to spare, so you throw some bread in the toaster while you finish up. You look at your plated chickpea smash and think to yourself how much $ money you saved by not getting delivery and how satisfied you will feel knowing you just filled your body with wonderful fiber and protein-rich chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas

• 1 stalk of celery

• 1 tbs capers

• ½ onion - sweet or red (scallions work in a pinch)

• 2 tbs Vegan mayo (I like organic Vegenaise but you could use whatever you like) 

• ¼ tsp Garlic powder

• ½ lemon, juiced

• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Using the back of a fork, or a potato masher, roughly mash the chickpeas, leaving about ¼ unmashed.  The mashing helps keep the salad together. 

Add the celery, onion, garlic powder, vegan mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix well.  Mix any add-ins and stir to combine. Voila, you now have a vegan tuna salad full of protein and fiber. 

Serve on any sandwich bread of your choosing (Ezekiel, Bread Alone gluten-free, sour dough) or wrap in a tortilla (Siete almond or cassava flour are great) or serve as a dip and scoop with some crackers (Simple Mills are always a favorite). Alternatively, serve over a bed of greens and use the chickpea tuna as a salad topping! 

Optional ingredients:

• 1 tbs capers (ok, I did include this as one of the ingredients, but if you really don’t like capers, consider this optional, but I love the brininess this adds. If you are feeling extra daring, you can also add in some caper juice) OR, gerkins would be great chopped up if you consider yourself more of a pickle person

• 1 tbs chia seeds (more or less depending on preference)

• 1 tbs hemp seeds (more or less depending on preference)

Toppings:

• Tomatoes

• Any greens of your choosing (Romaine, arugula, butter lettuce, etc) 

• Microgreens (I love the broccoli microgreens from Two Guys From Woodbridge at the Union Square Farmer’s Market)