Chickpea Salad
Try this Chickpea Salad recipe to add zest and variety to your salads, sandwiches and wraps! It is made with mashed chickpeas and amped up with celery, red onion, capers, and a creamy cashew mayo. This is definitely a recipe to add to your weekly lunch preps.
A Love Affair With….Mayo??
One of my favorite foods ever was mayonaise. Well….maybe that should be better classified as a condiment. Either way, I loved it slathered on anything and everything. My preference was to dip my French fries in it over ketchup. I should add here, that Miracle Whip falls in the same category. I was not partial to one or the other.
At a summer cookout, I would prefer a second helping of potato salad over the cake or pies. Back in my younger years, I recognized that this was not a healthy practice, and I did reluctantly give it up for a time. My ex husband and daughter gag at the smell of it. My other two children could take it or leave it, so I figured it didn’t make any sense to buy it just for myself. Mayo and I had to break up.
After my divorce, I did a downward spiral into some unhealthy eating, and you guessed it, my relationship with mayo was back on. It was not until I began my journey with plant based eating that I was able to ditch this unhealthy relationship….once and for all!
Making The Switch
I ran across a recipe through my Rouxbe Cooking Class for Baby Potatoes With Caper Aioli. I could not believe how good it was. No mayo. I could eat potato salad in a healthy way! WOW! Since then, I have never had the need to go back. In fact, my Chickpea Salad recipe is inspired by that potato salad recipe! I still have a relationship with mayo…only it’s vegan mayo now. Often called cashew mayo, this stuff is nutritious and delicious. A healthy relationship!
What Is In Cashew Mayo?
First off, you will need some raw, unsalted cashews. If you do not have a top notch blender, then your will need to plan ahead and soak these overnight to soften them. This makes the smoothest, creamiest mayo. I don’t always plan ahead as I should but thankfully my blender is pretty good and it gets the job done without soaking.
Place the cashews in the blender with lemon juice, white vinegar, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, and some salt. Pour in a half cup of water and blend until smooth. I usually need to add about 2 Tbsp more of water to get it to the right texture. SO easy and done in 5 minutes!
Can I Make A Nut Free Vegan Mayo?
Yes you can! In my nut free version, I would replace the cashews with 1 cup of extra firm tofu and 1 cup of white beans. I have also heard of people making it with sunflower seeds but have not tried that. Hmmm….it sounds like fun to experiment with that. My girls both have tree nut allergies so I do look for ways to make things nut free. The harder part is getting them to eat plant based, so I don’t have to work too hard since they likely wouldn’t eat it anyways! If you have a good nut free alternative let me know in the comments. I’d love to try it!
Chickpea Salad: Putting It Together
Once the mayo is made, I dice up some celery and red onion. Then I drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and mash them halfway into a bowl. Halfway means that I leave some pieces a little chunky. This adds texture and keeps the salad from being mushy.
Stir the mashed chickpeas together with the celery, onion, and cashew mayo. Then add in the capers. If you want, replace the capers with dill pickles and it is equally delicious. I just get lazy and don’t want to chop, so the capers work well for me in this recipe. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy! Watch my video to see how I make it and all the ways I love to use it! Hope you enjoy!
~Lora
Chickpea Salad
Equipment
- 1 high speed blender
Ingredients
For The Cashew Mayo
- 2 cups raw cashews soaked*
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup+ 2 Tbsp water
For The Chickpea Salad
- 1 recipe Cashew Mayo
- 1 14oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup celery diced
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- ½ cup capers (drained) or use chopped dill pickles
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For The Cashew Mayo
- Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
For The Chickpea Salad
- Finely dice celery and onions. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add chickpeas and lightly mash with a potato masher or fork. Leave some chickpeas half mashed or whole to keep texture.
- Stir in onions, celery, cashew mayo, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with crackers, in a wrap, or on bread in a sandwich. Enjoy!
Notes
- *If you have a high speed blender you do not need to soak, however soaking makes for a smoother consistency.
Nutrition
