Vegan Tuna (Chickpea/Hearts of Palm) Salad

Recipe from Nisha Vora of Rainbow Plant Life
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

This makes a dang good sandwich.  I had been making another recipe for chickpea salad. but I when I saw this recipe, I wanted to try using hearts of palm. I love the texture of the hearts of palm mingled with the chickpeas.  This was absolutely delicious, as all of Nisha’s recipes are.  

Ingredients:
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup canned hearts of palm, drained and rinsed and roughly chopped 
1/3 cup vegan mayo
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (or spicy brown mustard)
2 celery ribs, diced
2 teaspoons celery seeds
2 Tablespoons dill or sweet pickle relish (I used dill pickles.)
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 nori sheets, crumbled with your hands into small pieces OR ¼ cup Trader Joe’s Furikake Japanese Seasoning
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

For Serving: 
8 slices of hearty sandwich bread or sliced baguette
Sandwich fixings of choice: romaine or leaf lettuce, sliced or shaved cucumber, sliced tomatoes, fresh dill sprigs, pickles

Directions:
In a food processor bowl, combine the chickpeas, hearts of palm, mayo, mustard, celery, celery seeds, relish, nutritional yeast, crumbled nori, lemon juice, salt, and several cracks of pepper.
Do not blend! Pulse about 10 to 15 times, until incorporated and combined but still chunky.
Taste, adding more salt and pepper as needed. But stir them in by hand instead of pulsing to avoid over-blending.
If making sandwiches, spread the tuna salad onto four slices of bread. Top with your desired sandwich toppings. Top each with another slice of bread (for extra richness, add a thin layer of vegan mayo to this slice of bread). 

Sushi Grain Bowl

Recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 1 grain bowl (Can be easily doubled, tripled, etc.)

Boy, I wish I had known about this terrific lunch back when I was still working.  Wowza!  We loved all the flavors and textures of this simple dish.  Another great thing about this simple recipe is that all the components can be prepared in advance and then just arranged together right before serving.  

Dressing

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon lime juice (or lemon juice)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Grain Bowl Ingredients

1 cup cooked brown basmati rice

½ cup cooked shelled edamame

½ cup or so of tuna or sardines in oil (leftover cooked salmon would also work)

1 small cucumber or Persian cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced

1 large hard-cooked egg, peeled and halved

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

½ sheet nori, cut into thin strips (use scissors)

Measure out the dressing ingredients in a small jar with a lid.  Shake the jar vigorously until all the ingredients are well blended. Set aside.

Arrange brown rice, edamame, tuna, cucumber, and hard-cooked egg in a bowl or on a plate.  Sprinkle the egg and the cucumber with the salt and pepper. Drizzle the sushi bowl with the dressing.  Top with the toasted sesame seeds and the nori.  Serve.

No Tuna, Tuna Salad (Vegan)

No Tuna Tuna Salad served on corn tortillas with Cilantro Lime Avocado Sauce 
shredded carrots, cucumber slices, hot sauce with Wild Rice Salad on the side

Recipe from Rainbow Plant Life

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 4 servings

Well, this was marvelously good and no little fishies were required in the making of it.  The Nori or Dulse will give the salad a taste of the sea.  The chickpeas give the salad a meaty feel with the tender hearts of palm giving it smoothness.  I didn’t use the optional pickle relish because I prefer my salads not to have much sweetness.  Though this was delish as is, next time I make it, I will add some capers and some scallions as I do when I’ve made tuna salad.  I served this on warmed corn tortillas along with veggies because that’s what I had on hand.  This takes only a few minutes to prepare and would make an excellent Meatless Monday lunchbox addition.

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup canned or jarred hearts of palm (This was about ½ jar, 4 “hearts.”)

1/3 cup vegan mayo

4 teaspoons spicy brown mustard or regular mustard or Dijon mustard

2 celery ribs, diced

2 teaspoons celery seeds

2 Tablespoons sweet pickle relish (optional)

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 Nori sheets, crumbled OR 1 Tablespoon Dulse flakes

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sea salt or kosher salt, to taste

Fresh dill, optional

*I think 1 Tablespoon capers would be excellent in this.  Also, maybe a scallion.

Place all the ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse 15-20 times until well combined, but still a bit chunky.  Taste and adjust seasonings. 

Serve on whole grain toast or bread. 

For sandwich embellishments, add cucumber slices, shredded carrot, fresh tomato slices, greens, pickles, jalapeno slices, onions or even pickled onions, etc.