No equipment needed plant-based recipes: A series. Part 1.

Chickpea egg salad sandwiches. My oven broke.

Jan 26, 2024

You can do a lot with chickpeas. Hummus of course, but their macronutrient makeup lends well to things like blended sauces, batters, and even cookie dough. We use chickpeas a lot!

I like to cook my own dried chickpeas, but I always keep a few cans in my cupboard. Just in case.

You could call them just-in-case-cans.

Just in case you don’t know what to make for dinner. Just in case you’re short on time. Just in case your oven breaks.

Check, check, check.

This week, I needed those just-in-case-cans and I even bought some more.

Two weeks after moving into our new apartment, my oven stopped working. A couple days later, my computer called it quits.

Let’s just say cooking has been on the back burner, or rather on no burner at all. And although I love being in the kitchen, sometimes cooking dinner is an inconvenience. For the past two weeks I’ve been piecing together meals and making stuff that requires no oven, or even no cooking at all.

And you know what? It’s been fine.

Enjoyable in fact.

As someone who gets swept up in the creative side of plant-based cooking, I often forget that I can just relax and make easy, 15-minute, no-equipment-needed meals.

This realization has inspired me to compile a no-equipment-needed recipe series that I’ll share over the next 4 weeks. Starting with this one featuring my just-in-case-chickpeas!

No Equipment Convenience

Recipes requiring no equipment are important for a lot of reasons. The most obvious being that you don’t have to own any special equipment! In the plant-based arena this typically means no blender, no food processor, no air-fryer, no mandolins, etc. This is especially important if you’re just starting out with plant-based recipes and aren’t ready to invest any money or if new equipment isn’t in your budget at all.

Now I love me some Vitamix and Cuisinart but no equipment recipes are appealing for other reasons too; they’re usually faster and require less clean up.

I would argue this makes them attractive to literally everyone.

Including me.

With some just-in-case chickpeas and whole grain bread, I put together these open face chickpea sandwiches. And they were perfect!

No equipment needed. No cooking needed. Simple and delicious. Loaded with protein and flavour!

And if you’re wondering “How did she put all this together without a computer"?” This recipe was already in my Substack queue and I snapped the pictures before the computer died. Thankfully I had a back up. I am currently and clumsily typing on my husband’s old work ThinkPad computer. It’s going to be an interesting few weeks, wish me luck!

And happy cooking (or no-cooking cooking!)

CHICKPEA EGG SALAD SANDWICHES
Time: 20 minutes
Makes 2 to 3 sandwiches
This chickpea salad sandwich is so easy to mash together, and the addition of black Indian salt gives it an “egg-y” flavor and aroma! You can serve this like a traditional sandwich or in sturdy lettuce leaves for a lighter meal.
INGREDIENTS
1½ cups (255 g) cooked or canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ avocado, peeled and pit removed, more avocado for a creamier consistency
1 tablespoon (15 g) stirred tahini, optional
1 tablespoon (15 g) smooth Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon kala namek (or sea salt) or to taste
Pinch black pepper plus more to taste
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
1 teaspoon vinegar based hot sauce, optional (if you like it a little spicy)
1 small rib celery, finely diced (~¼ cup)
¼ small red onion, finely diced or 2 scallions, thinly sliced (~¼ cup)
1 medium dill pickled, finely diced (~¼ cup)
For serving
Bread of choice (whole grain, sprouted, whole wheat)
Leafy green lettuce, Boston lettuce (whatever is vibrant and fresh)
Optional additions: tomato, cucumber, hot sauce
HOW-TO
In a large bowl, add the chickpeas, avocado, tahini, and Dijon mustard. Mash with a potato masher or a fork until all the chickpeas are broken up. Now mix in the turmeric, kala namek, black pepper and lemon juice. Finally, stir in the celery, onion, and pickle. Taste and reseason with salt and pepper as needed.
Toast your bread (if desired), layer with some crispy, vibrant lettuce and then add a big scoop of your chickpea salad! You can serve this like an open-faced sandwich, a traditional sandwich, or stuffed in sturdy lettuce leaves.
You can keep this chickpea egg salad in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
NOTES
You can buy kala namek at health food stores and online. It is a special ingredient but it’s so worth the effort to pick up a bottle. If you don’t have any, just use sea salt instead.
If you want to reduce the total fat in the recipe, you can omit the tahini. You can also half the avocado but the mixture will be a little dry.
I used the gluten-free Amazing Whole Grain Bread from Plant-Based Delicious but you can use any bread that works for you. If bread isn’t in your diet, you can serve the chickpea egg salad on baked white or sweet potatoes, in sturdy lettuce leaves, or with some cooked whole grains.