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
What a great looking wrap and great for taking to work for lunch!
I love making tofu-salad in the style of tuna, but it’s kind of getting old. I would have never thought to use the mighty chickpea as a sub for tofu. Great idea!
shakalaka! I love the wrap idea! I wanted to make a big one today and eat half for lunch then half for dinner but I ran out of time!
my FAVORITE is that cute little pickle standing up in the ingredients photo! Angela, were you talking for that pickle while you were styling the food, saying: “hello, little pickle, you’re gunna stand up like this!” … I know I am weird but I could imagine that, for some reason! :)
Looks like I’m gonna have a new lunch favorite! That looks taste and filling
evidently we are on the same wavelength…i linked to that article yesterday too and today i posted a tempeh salad recipe. great minds…
Made this for lunch today and it was just delicious! I ate mine on crackers and it totally hit the spot. Tuna salad is one thing I’ve really missed since going vegetarian 2 years ago and now I dont have to miss it anymore! Thanks for the recipe :)
I have been following your blog since summer and I absolutely love all your recipes you post. I made this one for lunch tomorrow (yes, BEFORE going to bed and having to be at work for 730am!…go me!) Had to have a taste test and WOWWW! Absolute heaven. Im a huge fan of chick peas, and this meal is making me reallly excited for lunch!
So happy to hear that!
This was sooo good! Reminded me of tuna which I don’t miss at all. Thanks for the good recipes!
I’ve wanted to try a faux-tuna chickpea salad mix before. This one looks really yummy!
i’m planning to make this, but not being a pickle eater, i didn’t have any so i went to the store to get some, and while reading the label, i discovered a yellow color was added to all the jars i saw. I decided not to buy them and will make these wraps without the pickles but just wondering: do pickles always have artifical color added? is it possible to find some that don’t?
I made this for lunch today and it was so yummy…wish I’d doubled it cuz I ate the whole batch over spinach!
Hi Ange,
I love chickpeas but unfortunately they cause me stomach pains. I will try this recipe, nevertheless and have a cup of fennel-tea ready LOL!
I always cook lunch for the Hubs and myself for 2 days in advance – so we have the same meal twice but that’s OK. It’s the dinners that always presented a bit of a problem since I did not want to spend EVERY night in the kitchen. I have now invested in a slow-cooker and it really helps me save some time and dinner is ready whe we get home.
We’re having your red lentil and butternut squash stew for lunch today, btw!!
Best,
Stefanie
So I didn’t see this until this morning. Made me so hungry, I made it for breakfast! :) Absolutely wonderful! Thanks so much for being an inspiration to me and my family.
Cheers
Thank you, so happy you enjoyed it!!
I just made this for lunch – it’s been on my mind since you posted it! It was really good; I actually pulsed the salad with my immersion blender to make it stick to my bread a little better and lessen the chance of all the whole peas jumping out the back end of my sandwich (I’m out of wraps). And, sorry to rock the vegan boat, I may mix in a dollop of plain yogurt next time! Thanks for the recipe!
Wow. Just got done making & eating this and it was everything I hoped it would be. Delicious!
Woot woot! THANKS! Love me some chick peas…and something new for lunch. Lunch gets boring around my house.
I swear chickpeas are the little black dress of cooking/baking :)
I am making this tomorrow for lunch – it looks amazing!!
Made this today and it was outstanding. Thanks for the recipe.
This is SO good! Instead of dill pickle I used relish and I actually didn’t feel the need to add any salt. I used pecans instead of sunflower seeds (they smelled amazing while toasting in the oven). Definitely making a double batch next time :) Thanks Angela!