When I first went vegetarian I had taken all meat out of my diet, including fish. Which surprisingly was the one thing I missed a lot because I didn’t think I ate it that often and when I did, I didn’t think I loved it that much! With that being said, one of the first things I learned how to make within the first couple of months was a Tuna-lessTuna salad for sandwiches! It has taken me a while to come with my own concoction but most recipes you see on-line are…pretty much exactly like what I have here! It’s simple, simple, simple! You are basically swapping out the tuna for Garbanzo beans, and adding in either dulse, kelp or nori for the tuna (=) fishy, sea flavor. And then you make it your own, from your own childhood memories. I have a girlfriend who grew up in Eastern Washington and I grew up in Western Washington, in the Seattle area. I meet her when I was about 17-18 years old and a few years later we both lived in Alabama together. While living in Alabama, I remember eating tuna salad with her. I can’t remember the details of this meal but I do remember one thing very clearly in my mind…she had never even of heard of putting pickles in tuna salad and I had never heard of putting apples in tuna salad! WHAT THE HELL? Growing up in Eastern Washington, where all of the apple orchards are, DUH (?), and (OK)?, they used apples instead of pickles! I remember being totally dumbfounded by this news and thought she was a freak…for a brief second…then I remembered she was my friend because she was a freak, (she loved college, I didn’t, nuff said), and I loved her for it and I still do to this day! So with that being said, make this your own Tuna-less tuna salad! Add pickles or not. Add apples or not. What ever you do, MAKE THIS AND MAKE IT YOUR OWN!
Tuna-less Tuna Salad
Serves 4
1 12 oz can Garbanzo beans
3 stalks celery, finely diced
1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
3 small dill pickles, finely diced
1 Tbsp. dulse flakes
a couple good pinches of salt, to taste
1/4 cup vegan mayo (start with a good sized spoonful and mix and adjust from there, adding more as I needed)
Calories: 187, Fat (g) 10.8, Cholesterol 0, Sodium (mg) 426.1, Potassium (mg) 286.6, Carbs 19.7, Fiber 6.6, Sugars (g) 0.5, Protein (g) 5.7, Vit A 2.3%, Vit C 2.8%, Calcium 4.3%, Iron 21.9%
