Tuna? Tuno!

Apparently there has been this faux tuna salad recipe going around. Like a virus, baby. A yummy, vegan virus. Lindy Loo is the one that drew my attention to this fabulous recipe. She got it from Compassionate Action for Animals.

I must admit that I was skeptical. Even after reading all of the comments of people trying this, I was thinking there was no way that a bunch of mashed up chick peas would end up tasting like tuna salad. Well, I'll be damned if it doesn't, though. I had one of my coworkers taste this for me to get a frame of reference. He said it tastes like tuna salad to him, and I think he was pleasantly surprised as well. It's always fun when you turn to the guy that sits next to you and ask him to please try your crazy vegan tuno. hehe

Rock on, Lindy Loo for introducing this into my life. It was sooo good. I ate it on some pumpkin seed crackers for dinner and then put it in pitas with some sprouts for lunch the next day. I wish I had doubled the recipe so I could have gotten a few more servings out of it.

One note - some people were saying that kelp powder was kinda icky, so not having used that before, I went with dulse flakes. I haven't cooked with kelp powder before, but if you like it and you have some, then use that. You can could even get all crazy and add some kelp powder and dulse flakes if you like. I think most people left that ingredient out entirely, so don't worry if you can't find that in the store or don't want to spend the money on it. One thing I like to do with dulse flakes is mix them with black and white sesame seeds and a bit of salt to make a yummy sprinkle for stir fry. So if you buy that, there are other things you can do with it. :D

Tuno Salad

1(15 oz.) can chick-peas, drained (or 1.5 c. cooked)
1/8 - 1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise (I agree that the original recipe calls for way too much mayo. I only used about 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) for mine, so just add it a spoonful at a time until you've added however much works for you.)
1/3 cup minced celery
2.5 Tablespoons minced dill pickle or kosher dill relish (about 1 pickle-slice, give or take)
1/2 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon kelp powder or dulse flakes
pepper, to taste

In a medium bowl, mash the chick-peas coarsely with a fork. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Eat on crackers or on a sandwich.