Openfaced Garbanzo "Tuna" Salad Melts

For some reason or another, the past few days I have been craving tuna salad. Well, not tuna obviously, but something similar, with the same texture, pungent flavors, something that would bring me back to my childhood. After Googling “vegan tuna salad” for ideas on what to use as a base, I decided to make open faced melts with Daiya cheddar shreds. I served one to a non-vegan friend of mine (with real cheese, because I need to get it out of my house) and he thought they were incredible. Frankly, so do I! This has almost immediately become my new favorite recipe, and I know for sure I will be eating some melts for breakfast tomorrow morning!

Open Faced Garbanzo “Tuna” Salad Melts
makes 4 servings

1 can drained, rinsed chickpeas
2 stalks celery, halved lengthwise and diced
1 carrot, peeled, quartered lengthwise and diced
½ medium yellow onion, diced
1 large dill pickle, quartered and diced
1 tblsp sweet relish
1 tblsp dijon mustard
1 tblsp nutritional yeast
3 heaping tblsp vegan mayo
salt & pepper to taste

2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into 8 equal sized slices

4 vegan English muffins halved, or bread slices
4 slices soy cheese or Daiya cheddar shreads

Move oven rack to 2nd from the top. Preheat broiler. Place chickpeas in medium mixing bowl, smash with either a fork or a potato masher until crumbly and no visible beans are left whole. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix until blended. Place muffin halves (or bread slices) onto a baking sheet. Place one tomato slice on each english muffin half, then top with a heaping portion of salad mix. Top with a slice of cheese or a handful of Daiya shreds. Place under broiler until cheese is melty, between 5-10 minutes. Enjoy immediately.

Mmmmmm! Yummy goodness! If you don't have Daiya avialable, or don't like cheese substitues you can opt out, but Daiya makes all the difference, much better than the soy slices.

Even the plate was happy! Haha.