Vegan Tuna

Tuna is sold as clean protein. It is also a big predator at the top of the ocean food chain, and it collects the mercury in everything it eats. Yal calls it “the ocean’s vacuum cleaner”. That is why health authorities tell pregnant women and children to limit tuna, and to avoid the biggest kinds, like bigeye, altogether¹.

Catching it has a cost too. Tuna longlines and purse-seine nets catch sharks, turtles and dolphins along with the tuna, and some tuna species are still endangered².

Yal’s version is made from chickpeas, with nori for the taste of the sea, capers for salt and bite, nutritional yeast, and mustard from Eshmoon, a Lebanese brand and one of our sponsors. Mash, mix, and it’s ready.

The Recipe

Ingredients

• 1½ cups cooked chickpeas
• 4 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise (substitute mayo with tahini sauce or thinned hummus)
• 1 nori sheet (finely chopped) or nori flakes
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 10 capers (finely chopped)
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ½ Tbsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp white vinegar
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Add the chickpeas to a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork.
2. Add in vegan mayonnaise, finely chopped nori, lemon juice, finely chopped capers, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, white vinegar, and salt and pepper.
3. Mix well, and taste for salt and lemon.

Nutritional Information

Per Batch (~330 g)

Calories: ~640 kcal
Protein: ~33 g
Fat: ~36 g
Carbohydrates: ~54 g
Fiber: ~15 g
Calcium: ~90 mg
Iron: ~5 mg
Vitamin E: ~9 mg
Magnesium: ~120 mg

Per Serving (2 Tbsp | ~30 g)

Calories: ~58 kcal
Protein: ~3 g
Fat: ~3.3 g
Carbohydrates: ~4.9 g
Fiber: ~1.4 g
Calcium: ~8 mg
Iron: ~0.45 mg
Vitamin E: ~0.8 mg
Magnesium: ~11 mg