Humble Chickpea Salad

I sit here now, contemplating my humble chickpea salad.

In times of crisis we cling to the familiar. We cling to what we can control because everything else is chaos. We cling to the culinary memories that matter ,to us. When we could roam farmer's markets freely, popping in and out of shops as we please. The busy days I experienced a few short weeks ago seem like a distant memory to me now.

I worked in a bakery between my culinary school graduation and starting at Cornell for my bachelor’s program. It was, quite honestly, one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. I started with a graveyard shift and was encouraged to work off the clock. Which made sense, given that most of the work I had to do was too much for any sane person to do in eight hours. After a swift change in management and the start of a brief semester at a community college, I began working on the weekends in the mornings. But one of the silver linings of working in a bakery was the access I had to day-old bread.

Since all the bread was naturally fermented it was still good, if not a little dry. I was more than happy to scoop up day-old olive baguettes and some other loaves that didn’t sell. The baguettes were my favorite though. Sliced down the middle they became the perfect vehicle for a chicken salad. Made with copious amounts of mayonnaise, grapes or apples, celery, almonds, and greens. I learned a lot in the brief time I spent at that bakery, and the art of the sandwich was one of them.

Fast forward to the present when I no longer eat chicken, or traditional mayonnaise for that matter. Having been plant-based for almost three years. But I still crave those familiar flavors. The flavor of crusty, toasted bread and the sweet, creamy and slightly tart chicken salad. Enter the humble chickpea. You’ve already seen my beet hummus and know I love chickpeas in just about anything.

So, when the craving strikes for that oh so simple chicken salad, I turn to the chickpea instead. I get in the kitchen and create a humble chickpea salad. A salad made of simple, easy to find ingredients that can be stored for weeks at a time.

First, the chickpeas are mashed. And then our delicious, toasted almonds, apples, and celery make their debut.

Finish the salad off with a little non-dairy yogurt, plant-based mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Your salad is now ready to top a crusty piece of sourdough, grace your wrap of choice or find its way onto a bed of leafy greens.

Enjoy establishing a little sense of normalcy right now. Get your kids in the kitchen to help too so they can learn about plant-based eating and cooking. Enjoy this sandwich on your slow Monday, you deserve it.

Humble Chickpea Salad

Ali Lawrence | 3/30/20

• prep time: 10 minutes
• cook time: 5 minutes
• total time: 15 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 can (or 1 ½ Cups of cooked chickpeas), rinsed and drained
• 1 small apple (or halved grapes, raisins or other dried fruit)
• 2 medium stalks of celery
• ¼ Cup raw almonds (optional, can substitute with any nut or seed)
• 1/3 cup non-dairy yogurt
• 2 Tbsp plant-based mayonnaise (or a little less than ½ cup if you don’t have the yogurt)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the almonds on a cookie sheet. Toast the almonds in the oven for about 5 to 6 minutes until fragrant and just starting to turn brown. Cool the almonds slightly and chop them up a bit.
2. While you’re toasting the almonds, chop the apple and the celery into small pieces (just make sure they’re about the same size).
3. Pour the drained chickpeas into a large bowl. With a fork, go ahead and start smashing the chickpeas until they are your desired texture. I like my salad chunkier so I only smashed the chickpeas a little bit. But feel free to smash them as much as you like! You can also use a potato masher if you have one.
4. Add the remaining ingredients besides the salt and pepper to the bowl and mix well to combine.
5. Season to taste (remember, most plant-based mayonnaise is salted already to start with a little salt and taste as you go!).
6. Enjoy on a thick slice of sourdough bread or a wrap of your choice with your choice of greens.
7. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to five days.