Vegan 'Tuna' Salad Recipe | When A Teen Goes Green

Now, this title might seem weird. A fake tuna salad? Why replicate tuna when I stopped eating it? Well, I have a lot of reasons to not eat meat or fish, which I will discuss below, but flavor isn’t one of them. Yes, I love the taste of fish too, I mean who doesn’t? But, for me it was not enough to still eat it. So, when I found out about this vegan ‘tuna’ salad recipe I was eager to try it. I absolutely love it and that’s why I want to share it with you today.

Why I don’t eat fish anymore

There are a lot of reasons why I don’t eat fish anymore, not just one. Firstly, the oceans are overfished. Scientists say that the oceans will be empty by the year 2050. That is terrifying, an ecosystem gone. Maybe even more ecosystems, because we don’t know what will happen after that. Second, I believe every living being wants to live just as much as I do. I believe that fish want to live and I can think of no good reason for me to take a life. Three, conventional fishing is horrific. Fish are basically squeezed to death because the nets are so immense (it’s hard to even imagine how big they are) that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, fish caught in one net. When they drag the net out fish are squeezed to death and sometimes their guts come out.

Four, I don’t need to eat fish. There are communities on this planet who rely on fish as their source of protein. Like Eskimos for instance, because there is nothing else forehand. But I am not an Eskimo. There are so many plant based sources of protein for me to eat (like Seitan, Beans or Lentils), everything is available for me. Flavor is just not enough of an argument to eat fish to me and take all the things I’ve just listed for granted.

Scientists say that the oceans will be empty by the year 2050

Vegan ‘tuna’ salad

As I said, I do like the flavor of fish. So when I tasted the following the recipe I was over the moon. I found it via a fellow blogger called Linda, so all the credits for it go to her. Most recipes I’ve shared so far are zero waste recipes. This is one is not, because I haven’t found all the ingredients zero waste just yet. However, I found the recipe so good that I just had to share it with you.

Recipe for vegan tuna salad

490 grams of cooked chickpeas, I usually buy these organic in a glass jar.
2 nori sheets, this is the plastic part. I hate it but these nori sheets are essential here.
2 tablespoons of olive oil, available in bulk sometimes, but otherwise in glass.
2 tablespoons of silver onions, usually available in a glass jar.
2 tablespoons of ketchup, Albert Heijn has organic ketchup in a glass bottle. In the picture you see a plastic bottle, because I used whatever we still had in our pantry and I am not in charge of our households’ groceries.
Juice of one lime, zero waste if you buy it loose.
4 tablespoons of vegan mayonaise, I buy Remia ‘mayolijn’, which is honestly delicious and comes in a glass jar.
Some pepper, available in bulk or a glass container.

About the ingredients

I never recommend using salt, even though it was in the original recipe. I think our western diet contains enough salt already. Also, the original recipe said to use capers, not silver onions. However, I hate capers and I think the silver onions are just perfect in this recipe. Something optional is a chopped raw onion. I think it’ll be great in this recipe, but I just hate the after taste of raw onion, it affects my taste for 2 days.

Cooking instructions

Step one is to put the chickpeas in a bowl. Grab a fork and flatten them a little bit, this way it is smoother but still has a bit of a bite to it. Add the nori sheets by pulverizing them with your hands. Then add all the other ingredients and mix is all together. Done in about 5 minutes.

I wished I had known about this recipe myself earlier. I honestly love it! Since I’ve known it I have eaten it like 10 times already. The nori sheets give is such a fishy taste, I was sooo surprised the first time I tried it, I feel like it truly tastes like the ‘real’ thing. This batch is for me a perfect amount for a dinner for myself, with some bread. You can also eat it as a lunch or breakfast, it’s great for each part of the day since it is a salad. The plastic from the nori blades are a shame, but I’ll take it for granted this time (which I almost never do). Enjoy!