This Vegan “Tuna” Salad Sandwich Will Solve Your Lunch Problems

The perfect simple sandwich recipe to sate your salty, crunchy, creamy, oceany cravings

Though it may look suspiciously like actual tuna (or chicken) salad, this sandwich is 100 percent plant-based. From the gently smashed chickpeas and vegan mayo to the cornichon brine-pickled shallots and toasted sunflower seeds, this collection of seemingly random vegan ingredients come together to form a hearty spread that’s just as welcome on a salad as it is between two slices of bread.

Most vegans are likely well-aware, but chickpeas have this special ability to transform themselves — silky-smooth for dip, crispy when fried, and don’t even get me started on how much they can do for baking when dehydrated and ground into a flour (that part is fun for gluten-free folks as well). Here, the technique couldn’t be simpler: crush with a fork and move on with your life. Toasted sunflower seeds add a bit of crunch to the “tuna”, which is a weird sentence when you say it out loud, but trust me, it works when you eat it.

Second only to the chickpeas and sunflower seeds when it comes to making this spread is vegan mayonnaise. Though there are dozens of eggless mayo brands on the market now, I will always be a Veganaise stan. Dijon mustard cuts…