Chickpea Salad

My husband has been known to lament on Facebook that some days he has quinoa salad for lunch and chickpea salad for dinner. Geez, there I go again, trying to keep us all healthy.

But if Jeff is being honest, he loves it. After all, he's always picking up quinoa at the store and whenever I haven't made this chickpea salad in a while, he drops some subtle hints. Hey, we have lots of cans of chickpeas in the pantry. Why don't you make chickpea salad?

This recipe is adapted from my favorite vegan cookbook -- The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon. I have made the vegennaise (that's "mayo" without the oil and egg) Angela calls for in this recipe just once. Sorry, Angela, but some things taste better with mayo -- Duke's mayo to be precise. Also, I don't put in as much dill pickle as Angela calls for, because it makes the salad (mine, anyway) too wet. I also add carrot. And I always double the recipe, because the chopping takes some serious time, so why not make more while I'm at it? And besides I love my hubby.

XOXO,
Amy

PS: You will see later this week that one of my kiddos likes chickpea salad in her school lunch. Bless her.

Chickpea Salad
Adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook

2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
3-6 green onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, finely diced
1-2 dill pickle spears, seeded and finely diced
2 bell peppers, each one a different color, finely chopped
4-6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
4 teaspoons dill
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Toasted bread, crackers, or lettuce for serving

Put chickpeas in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until some of the chickpeas appear flaky in texture and others are still whole or mostly whole. Combine all other ingredients, adjusting mayo, mustard, salt and pepper to your taste.

Serve this salad with toasted bread, crackers, lettuce -- or eat plain.