Meatless Monday: Chickpea Chicken Salad

Since becoming vegetarian, finding lunches for Rebecca in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen has been challenging. She burned out on peanut butter sandwiches and hummus wraps pretty quickly. The idea of more hummus made her gag a little. So, when she found a recipe for Curried Chickpea "Chicken" Salad, she was pretty stoked. And even more stoked when she found out how delicious it was! 

Curried Chickpea Salad
Recipe adapted from: http://www.simple-veganista.com/?s=curried+chickpea

2 cans (15 oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 – 3 carrots (about 1 cup), diced
4 – 5 scallions/green onions (about 1 cup), sliced
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup raw or toasted cashews
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & cracked pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, curry & garlic powder and a generous pinch of salt. Blend until combined. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, add chickpeas and roughly mash about 1/2 of the beans with the back of a sturdy fork or potato masher. Add in the carrots, scallions, raisins, cashews and mayonnaise mixture, mix well to combine. Taste for flavor adding salt and cracked pepper to taste.

This salad would be delicious served in a wrap or with sliced red peppers or celery, but was also delicious just plain, in a bowl with a spoon. 

If you're a vegan, you can use vegan mayo, or mix the salad with hummus thinned with tahini sauce. This is a great recipe for those hot, dog days of summer when you don't want to do any actual cooking. It's become Rebecca's new go-to lunch recipe. Heaven help us when she gets sick of this one... 

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew