Today’s post is full-blown vegan! Getting back to the roots of this blog after a long break…too long…and I’m slowly documenting the story behind it on my sister site about surviving cervical cancer. It’s very much a work in progress, but for now, I’m happy to be back on this site with a post that’s a delicious alternative in hot weather.
If you like tuna salad or egg salad but would like a vegan, clean eating version, give it a try! First, you’ll need to make avocado mayo. There are several recipes out there, but after scanning several, I started with this version: from Pinterest. (Thanks, Alissa!)
My adapted version of avocado mayo:
1 avocado, pitted, scooped out of the peel and into a blender
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T. apple cider vinegar (skimpy tablespoon)
1 T. olive oil (omit if you wish…but I found it to blend more easily with the addition of healthy fat, which is okay with me)
1/8 t. onion powder
1/8 t. garlic salt (note that the original recipe calls for garlic power and salt separately, but I ran out of garlic powder…)
Blend everything in a blender until it is smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Spoon out into a bowl and rinse the blender.
Chickpea sandwich salad:
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 T. chopped onion (I used a sweet white onion)
1/2 to 1 t. celery seed (chopped celery is okay to add as well…experiment)
freshly ground pepper to taste
salt to taste ( I used sea salt)
Drain the chickpeas and reserve the juice/fluid/water for another use…if you wish. (Like what, you say? Check here.)
Dump the chickpeas back into the blender and pulse a few times. You do NOT want hummus…but you do want a chunky, mashed consistency. It’s okay to use a potato masher for this, but if the blender is already out…why not? I’m all for working efficiently and having less clean-up.
Add the chickpeas to the avocado mayo. Add the onion, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Fold together into a sandwich salad…think tuna or egg salad. At this point, you may need to taste and add more celery seed, salt, and pepper. Don’t go too light on the salt unless it is restricted in your diet, as it really enhances the flavor to have the right amount of salt in this recipe.
Serve as you would your favorite sandwich salad. Today, I chose an Ezekiel English muffin, open faced with Grey Poupon and more freshly ground pepper. Yes, I do love ground pepper! Hope you try it and enjoy. Happy experimenting! –Linda