Chickpea Salad Spread (Vegan Chicken and Tuna)

…for Sandwiches, Wraps and Crackers

This chickpea salad spread has two options.┬á It can be prepared as “chicken” salad or “tuna” salad substitutes.┬á See “tuna” flavor salad add-in options below under the ingredients section.

Ingredients: Of course substitutions can be made for many of these ingredients, but this list serves as a general guideline.

• One 15 ounce can of chickpeas (or 1 1/2 cup home cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 green onion (or 2 TBS red/white/yellow onion or 1 scallion), finely chopped
• 1 – 2 TBS tahini (or homemade vegan mayo or any dressing of your choice)
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard of choice
• 1/4 cup of nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc)
• 1 – 2 TBS dried cranberries
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• dash of paprika
• salt and pepper, to your liking

Add-ins for the “tuna” flavor: One or the other will do just fine

• 1 sheet of nori seaweed, crumbled
• 4 mini sheets of any nori seaweed snacks
• 1/2 – 1 tsp of kelp powder

Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor then mix/chop.  Or mash the chickpeas with a fork and then add remaining ingredients.

SUCCESS!

I offered the chickpea “chicken” version salad to someone who had never tried anything similar to this before. I was informed that he was not a fan of hummus. I put the spread into a tortilla wrap with avocado and jalapenos. After the first bite, the response was, “Not bad.” But when the plate was empty, he asked for the recipe.

More chickpea recipes:

• Here is how I make chickpeas using an InstantPot. This recipe also includes directions on creating aquafaba (left over) chickpea water and how it can be used to make meringue cookies)
• Chickpea Tortillas
• Salad Made Easy