Vegan Tuna Melt

I’ve been looking forward to trying this new vegan product called “Toona”. When I told my husband I’d be making tuna melts for lunch I found out he’s never eaten one… ever. No pressure, right??

I guess I assumed everyone knows the classic tuna melt, a diner menu staple and one of my favorite picks in my pre-vegan days.

So, I chopped up my standard ingredients for any sandwich filling that ends in “salad”: onions, celery and parsley. I opened the can and drained off the bit of olive oil on top. The texture was a bit crumbly and firm, more so than I expected. It wasn’t flaky at all, but I mashed it up with a fork then added my veggies, egg-free mayo and a bit of sweet pickle relish.

To my pleasant surprise, it tasted great–not fishy at all, just the essence of the sea. The texture though, was kind of like Beyond Meat, which I have used to replicate chicken salad. I would advise not to add any salt to this recipe. It tasted plenty salty so I just added a big dash of black pepper.

Meanwhile, I toasted a couple whole grain english muffins and set my oven to low broil. I lightly buttered the toast with Earth Balance and topped the bottom halves with a slice of organic tomato and a generous scoop of the salad. Then I placed a couple slices of Follow Your Heart Provolone on top.

When the cheeze was nice and melty I pulled out my little beauties and served them with more tomato and topped with the other muffin half on top.

Our sandwiches turned out really delicious and I would say better, cleaner tasting than conventional tuna melts. I think it’s really about the experience of the crunchy bread, hot broiled tomato and cheeze blending with the salad ingredients inside that really make it. I didn’t miss that “fishy” flavor or the fish for that matter. Leave them in the sea where they belong! 🙂