Vegan Chickpea Eggless Salad Sandwich

I’ve been thinking of making an vegan “egg” sandwich, but I wasn’t sure what to replace as the egg. I thought of using tofu, but I know there’s a lot of controversy with soy, so I wanted to make that as a last resort, and a few days ago, I saw someone using chickpea as tuna.

OMG, if chickpeas can be used as tuna, surely it can be for eggs too, right?

Guess what, just as I was all pumped to make it, I discovered that I had no chickpeas, haha. That tends to happen a lot.

Note: The mayonnaise I used was Vegenaise, the Grapeseed oil version. I used chickpeas that had sodium, so I didn’t add any salt. You may want to taste the chickpeas first to be sure, if it tastes salty, then you won’t need the salt.

Another thing I want to mention briefly is the Kala Namak salt. It’s pinkish colour (don’t know why they call it black salt), and it has a strong egg smell. Adding it will kind of almost give it that “egg” taste, but it’s not necessary. I bought that on Amazon.

Try and use great quality bread if possible. I always find amazing types of breads at Trader Joe’s. The one I used here is actually from Nature’s Promise, which tastes AMAZING, even though it’s Rye bread, which I can’t even tell the difference between that and white bread.

Vegan Chickpea Eggless Salad Sandwich

4 slices rye bread (I used Nature’s Promise Natural Rye)
Lettuce leaves (romaine, Boston, etc)

Salad
1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan/sea salt (if chickpeas are sodium free or using your own cooked chickpeas)
1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon Kala Namak (black salt)
A few sprinkles dried parsley (or 1-2 fresh parsley leaves)
3 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (eg Vegenaise)
1 celery stalk
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
2 fresh oregano leaves
1 teaspoon lemon juice
A pinch fresh/dried dill
A few sprinkles ground pepper
1-2 tablespoons water, if needed (in case salad dries out)

Bread: If you want the bread to be toasted, be sure to toast before the chickpea salad finishes, because the salad dries up fast.

Salad: Finely dice the onion and measure out 1/4 cup, then mince a clove of garlic and put it in the frying pan with a tablespoon of extra light olive oil.

Turn the heat on medium high-high (5-6 or 6) and give it a minute to heat up, then saute the onion and garlic for about 6 minutes.

If using canned chickpeas, open the can of chickpeas, drain out the water and rinse some more, then drain again. If using homemade, simply drain out all the water. Put it in a flat bowl and use a potato masher to mash the chickpeas up.

If your chickpeas do not contain any sodium (using home cooked or sodium free canned versions), add 1/4 teaspoon to the chickpeas and mix it up.

Add the mashed chickpeas to the frying pan, then add the turmeric powder, cumin, kala namak salt (it gives a stronger egg flavour, but is optional) and parsley (chopped up if using fresh). Continue cooking and stirring for 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat, then add the vegan mayonnaise. Chop up the celery into fine dice, as well as the red onion (measure out 2 tablespoons), and add it to the chickpeas. Then, add the lemon juice, dill and ground pepper. Stir until everything is mixed evenly.

If you’re leaving the salad to have later, be sure to cover it. If it dries out, add a tablespoon or two of water and stir.

Assemble: Once the bread slices are toasted, put one or two lettuce leaves on the bottom. Spoon the chickpea salad on top and close the sandwich.