This is one of those ideas that makes me slap myself in the
forehead. How could I have been such an idiot in not thinking of it myself? Of
course, I take the self-deprecation down a notch when I realize that if this is
the first time I’ve come across it in all my recipe-gathering adventures, a
whole lot of other people haven’t thought of it either.
This recipe comes from Vegetarian Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America. I had checked the book out of our local
library and decided I wanted to cook too much from it (especially from the “Salads
and Sandwiches” chapter, which I’d like to eat right off the pages), to be
limited to having it on hand for only a month at a time. I acquired a copy of
my very own and hope to be cooking a lot more from it this summer.
The chickpea salad is really quite simple: chopped chickpeas
and a few finely-chopped green things held together with mayonnaise and a
little sour cream. (I used this homemade vegan mayo.) In the original recipe, the
chickpeas were coarsely pulverized in the food processor, but I really didn’t
want to add the extra step of cleaning the processor to my day, so I just
chopped them with a knife instead. I also couldn’t resist throwing in a good
handful of fresh chives from my garden.
This is really the same as a tuna salad (or egg salad, or
chicken salad, or ground ham or roast beef salad, etc.), but with cooked
chickpeas in place of the tuna. I made a sandwich with my salad on toast, and,
later, wrapped it in a tortilla. I really think a pita pocket would have a
quite fabulous vehicle for it as well.
Chickpea salad is at least as easy to put together as tuna
salad, since the chickpeas come ready in a can just as tuna does. You could, of
course, make this from your own cooked chickpeas as well, which makes me think
many other beans could be used in place of the chickpeas. That, in turn, makes
me think that other chickpea salads (like, say, this one) could be chopped
finely or pulsed in the food processor to make sandwich fillings and cracker
spreads.
Chickpea Salad
(for Sandwiches and Such)
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America by The Culinary Institute of America and Katherine Polenz
You could use a food
processor to chop the chickpeas, but I found it unnecessary.
Replace the sour cream
with additional vegan mayonnaise to make this salad vegan.
1 (15-ounce) can or about 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained
and rinsed
1 medium-size celery stalk, finely chopped¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely minced fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup mayonnaise (I used this homemade vegan mayonnaise)
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1. Coarsely chop the chickpeas and place them in a
medium-size bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Taste
for seasoning and adjust as needed. Keep refrigerated.
Makes at least 4 servings. Serve in sandwiches with bread,
toast, pitas, tortillas, etc. or spread on crostini or crackers. Keeps for at
least a few days in the refrigerator.
Other recipes like this one: Lemon-Fennel Egg Salad,
Chickpea Tostadas with Tomato and Cucumber Pico de Gallo
One year ago: Calzones with Ricotta and Arugula Pesto
