Spooner's to choose vegetarian food or vegan option? (9)

I believe the answer is:

chickpeas

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spooner's to choose vegetarian' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'food or vegan option?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'food' could be 'peas' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'peas' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'chick' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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