I’m still the world’s laziest lunch maker. Ever.
I’m lucky if I make it to the table to sit down like a civilized human being most days. When I’m busting my butt in the kitchen for hours each day, the last thing I want to do is chop more vegetables or do a lot of prep for lunch. So, I tend to fall back on frozen veggie burgers (I love Amy’s California burgers), hummus, salsa, and wraps because they are effortless and ready in 5 minutes. And thank goodness there is no chopping required!
I recently discovered the obvious: prep something the night before and I’ll have more variety in my lunch. I’ve talked about this little problem before (see part 1 and part 2) so as you can see old habits die hard! My problem is that I rarely think about lunch at night time, but perhaps this chickpea salad may finally change that…
I spotted a vegan “Not Tuna Salad” on the Whole Foods website and used it as my inspiration for this amazing chickpea salad wrap. While I don’t think what I came up with tastes anything like tuna salad (let’s be real, it’s chickpeas), I think it tastes even better! And this is coming from a former tuna salad addict who used to eat canned tuna for lunch all the time in university. Yes, I was that girl stacking towers of 59 cent tuna into her shopping cart like a crazy person.
So whether you never liked tuna or maybe you love tuna, add this to your lunch rotation! Pop it into a container, add a wrap and fruit, and you have yourself a well-rounded lunch…no veggie burger required.
Amy, I’ll see you on Wednesday.
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Chickpea Salad Wrap
Yield
3 servings
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Eric asked me if it really tastes like tuna. “Umm…no…” I said after careful thought, “but it actually tastes better!” Who needs tuna when it tastes this good? It’s fresh, crunchy, filling, and has a great pop of dill. If you’ve had a jar of dill pickles sitting in your fridge for years, now is the time to use them.
Ingredients
- 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 tbsp chopped red onion
- 3 tbsp chopped dill pickle (~1 pickle)
- 1 tbsp minced fresh dill
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp regular mustard
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds (or pecans/walnuts)
- salt/herbamare and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325F and toast the sunflower seeds for about 11 minutes.
- Mix everything into a bowl, mashing up the chickpeas slightly with a fork, and season with salt (I used Herbamare) and pepper, to taste. Stuff into a wrap or pita, or enjoy with crackers or rice cakes.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Ok, so I didn’t make this “the night before”, but I did make this at 10am on Saturday morning! Bonus points, right?
(Note: I didn’t end up using the paprika as shown in the photo)…and yes, that’s a dill pickle leaning up against the mustard. The jar of pickles has been in our fridge for a year? Amazingly, I’m not dead after ingesting it. Love pickles.
Chop, mix, and serve. Easy.
Veggies burgers certainly have their time and place in my work week, but thankfully now does this wrap! I hope you enjoy it too!
and a link to share for you today…
In case you haven’t seen it already, check out this thought-provoking NYT’s article by Mark Bittman – “We’re eating less meat. Why?” which talks about the 12% drop in US meat consumption in the last 5 years.
“We still eat way more meat than is good for us or the environment, not to mention the animals. But a 12 percent reduction in just five years is significant, and if that decline were to continue for the next five years — well, that’s something few would have imagined five years ago. It’s something only the industry could get upset about. The rest of us should celebrate. Rice and beans, anyone?” ~Bittman
This is basically how I make my tuna salad, only I mash my chickpeas and use relish instead of a chopped pickle. AND I use a vegan mayo. Which, be careful, is addictive.
These wraps look amazing. I LOVE chickpeas. I think this is a great idea for a “tuna” substitute. I might add something sweet – like apples or sweet relish.
Mmmm That wrap looks delish! The only problem I’ve had with chickpeas in wraps is that they FALL OUT so easily!!! But It’s worth it :)
Also, interesting article that you linked to! I find it really cool that we’ve decreased our meat consumption, whatever the reason may be. Some people are finally realizing that they don’t HAVE to have a slab of meat on their plate for a complete meal. Others still need more of a convincing (aka my husband. lol)
yes they do fall out…those pesky lil buggers kept trying to ruin my photos! heh
YAY for people eating less meat! I hope the trend continues.
This wrap looks really good. I like that it doesn’t use Vegenaise like many tu-no sandwiches do.
Chickpea salad. Why didn’t I think of that?!? Brilliant!
Ha just made this! Sooo yummy. Thanks Ange for another great recipe.
While I dont advocate eating unhealthy amounts of meat, some of us are unable to consume legumes and grains at all. Lean meats provide essential nutrition that we cannot get solely from produce nor would j want to subsist on powders. Please show a little understanding that vegan or vegetarianism is not the ideal diet. I’d rather esg z lean serving oc organic chicken instead of the fake vegan cheese you have or the beans-although healthy- my body cannot tolerate.
Hi Jenn, Thank you for your comment. My writing is very tongue in cheek, but I can see how this post (e.g,when I said “Who needs tuna anyways?”) could translate to a lack of understanding. I’m sorry if it came across that way! When I say things like that, it’s very light-hearted, but I guess that is hard to tell through a screen. I’ve always said that I think everyone should eat whatever diet works best for them and I totally understand that veganism is not for everyone!
This wrap looks absolutely amazing. Isn’t it scary that there was a 12% drop and we’re STILL eating way too much meat?! Crazy!
What a great idea. I can’t wait to try this!
I literally ran into my kitchen to make this. Miracle of miracles, I had all the ingredients. Fast, delicious and easy!
Glad to hear that!
i’m always looking for simple, lazy lunch ideas! and chickpeas are an all-time favorite… thanks for the recipe :)
I’m a super lazy lunch maker, too. I could say it’s because I live by myself and work from home, but it’s probably because I’m straight lazy. This wrap is totally my style! I never liked tuna but I do love chickpeas.
oh man I am DEFINITELY making this!! this summer my boyfriend and I did our first garden and ended up with WAYYY too many cucumbers to handle, so we also learned how to can and made a bunch of different types of pickles. I can’t wait to use them in this salad!!
I love how versatile chickpeas are. This salad looks fabulous! I get much more creative with my lunches when I make them ahead of time, too.
That looks amazing! Chickpea salad rocks and I love the combo of chickpeas and mustard.
Btw I hear you, lunch and I have a total love/hate relationship. My mom really doesn’t eat lunch (I don’t know how she doesn’t get hungry) – some days she’ll be proud of herself for having a Larabar or a yogurt and apple and I’ll scream “That’s not lunch!!” but honestly, I’m not always doing much better. Definitely leftovers are a saviour when I have them. Thanks for the tip on Amy’s burgers because I love her burritos!
I was going to make the not tuna salad tonight for my lunches this week! I thought it sounded delicious! I cannot wait to make it now!
Enjoy!
Chickpeas make everything better!!
I like the little toothpick in the wrap :)
That was Eric’s idea…I need to hire that man I tell you. ;)
I’ve had chickpeas floating around in my cupboard for eons now – I love homemade hummus, but I’ve just been too busy lately! Thank you for giving me an excuse to finally use ’em up, I just made this on a trader joes whole wheat fiber wrap – I’m a fan of ‘tuna melts’ myself, though, so I heated the chickpea salad on the wheat wrap up before topping it with lettuce – a little toasty and deeeelicious!!!!!
That sounds incredible!
Thanks Angela. I saw this on your FB post and then clicked through to your blog. I just made it for lunch. It’s sooo good. One clarification on calories: is it 222 kcal for one serving?
Hi carol, Glad you like the salad! Yes it’s 222kcals per serving, I will try to clarify that.