Garbanzo beans are an ideal substitute for canned tuna when it comes to creating a health-promoting "Tu-no" salad. You can serve this by itself or atop a green or spinach salad, spooned into romaine leaves, or as a filling in steamed corn tortillas.
Tu-No Salad
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4 to 6 (makes 1 cup dressing and 5 cups salad) 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- For the salad:
- 2 cans cooked garbanzo beans (15 ounces each; about 3 cups total), drained and rinsed
- 3 ribs celery, sliced or chopped (about 1 cup)
- ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 medium, ripe avocado, chopped (optional)
- Cashew-Mustard Dressing:
- ½ cup water
- 2 ounces raw, unsalted cashews (about ½ cup)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons mustard (I like Dijon or stone ground)
- 2 teaspoons vinegar (I like apple cider)
- 1 medium clove garlic, sliced
- 2 to 3 teaspoons kelp granules (optional; see Notes)
Instructions
- Place all of the dressing ingredients (water, cashews, lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, garlic, and kelp, if using) into a blender, and set aside for at least 15 minutes (so the cashews can soften).
- Place the garbanzo beans into a food processor and pulse until the beans are broken but still flaky (do not overblend). Transfer the beans to a large bowl and add the celery, red onion, basil, and avocado (if using).
- Blend the dressing ingredients until smooth. Stir the dressing into the salad. Serve as is or see the serving suggestions above.
Notes
Adding kelp granules lends a seafood flavor to this salad (although it’s great without it, too). You can find kelp granules in the spice aisle or Asian cooking section of the grocery store.
For a lower-fat dressing, substitute ½ to 1 cup cooked white beans (any type; drained and rinsed) for the cashews.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅙ recipe, ¾ cup
- Calories: 203
- Sugar: 2.4g
- Sodium: 105mg
- Fat: 6.1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.9g
- Carbohydrates: 26.6g
- Fiber: 6.3g
- Protein: 9.3g
- Cholesterol: 0
I have served the salad in warmed corn tortillas as well as wrapped in steamed collard greens, with avocado as a garnish.
This recipe is almost exactly the same as the Tu-no Salad Wraps from drmcdougall.com. Whose recipe is it?
Hi Karen, it's my recipe; I teach for the McDougall Program, so they share it on their site too. The slight difference is that I used to put in parsley (as well as basil) and I changed it when I published my book in 2016 and left out the parsley. 🙂
Just wanted to share here much have loved this recipe for years. I do use walnuts in places of cashews and we like it with cilantro rather than basil. I share this recipe and time anyone asks for a vegan “tuna” salad recipe but thought I should let you know how much my family loves it!
Great subs! 🙂 Thanks so much, Mary Ellen!
Lovely recipe. I can keep fresh basil so I added frozen basil to the dressing while blending!
Incredible texture and so healthy. Thank you for sharing.
I adore this recipe and make it all the time! Marvelously crunchy that never fails to satisfy. I like to wrap it up in lettuce leaves. Yum!
You should add the Kelp granules to your Amazon store!
Just did! 🙂 Thanks Tracey!
Eating your Beefless Stew. Making a shopping list for your No-Tuna. It’s all great.
Aw, thanks so much Mary! Those are two goodies! 😉
I don't have any kelp flakes.....can I substitute with Dulse flakes? Or Nori?
Sure! 🙂
Awesome recipe
Excellent recipe!! I love that i can eat on a lettuce like a boat and eat like a sandwhich.
So delicious! It's a favorite, for sure! Thanks for the yummy recipe!