Now if you can make pizza out of cauliflower, you can make tuna out of chickpeas!
Does it taste good? Yes! I love chickpea tuna! (Or chuna!). It is deliciously savoury, punchy with flavour, super nutritious and really quick to rustle up.
But how can chickpeas resemble tuna I hear you say?
This recipe exploits the ‘meatiness’ of chickpeas. Just coarsely mash them up and add fabulous seasonings of capers, lemon juice, red opinion and nori seaweed and hey presto, you have a delicious savoury, creamy and tangy chuna! I think this chuna rivals conventional tuna mayo in flavour and is cruelty-free and sustainable!
It is a terrific vegan alternative to tuna, but also great for those simply wanting to eat more pulses. I love this in salads, on toast, in sandwiches or wraps.
To bump up the nutritionals, you can add some protein powder and wheatgrass into the chuna mix, but this is optional. The wheatgrass also adds to the ‘tuna’ flavour.
Makes: 1 bowl, enough for 4 toasts (2 sandwiches),
Preparation time: 5 min
Ingredients:
- 1 can (400g) chickpeas, drained (you could always save the aquafaba for a meringue or chocolate mousse!)
- 2 tbsp. vegan mayonnaise
- ½ small red onion, diced finely
- 16 capers
- 1/3 of a nori seaweed sheet, roughly torn
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. soya sauce or tamari or liquid aminos
- 1tsp tomato puree
- ½ tbsp. protein powder (soy or pea); optional
- 1/8th tsp wheatgrass powder; optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
To garnish:
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Method:
- Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor and pulse to combine. I like my chuna quite coarse and so I try to ensure that not all the chickpeas are mushed up.
- Transfer into a bowl. Stir in some of the sliced spring onions Garnish with the remaining spring onions. This chuna is perfect on toast, in sandwiches, wraps and in salads. Enjoy!
Don’t forget you can find my favourite recipes in my FREE eBook here.
