02/17/2015 Main Dish

Mashed Chickpea Salad

Name: Mashed Chickpea Salad
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients: 1 medium carrot, shredded; 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed; 2 stalks of celery, chopped small; 1/3 of a small apple, chopped small; 1/4 cup red onion, chopped small; 1/2 cup kale, de-stemmed and torn into small pieces; 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro; 2-3 heaping tablespoons of dijon, more as needed (I used a mix of spicy dijon with stone-ground); 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic; fresh juice from 1/2 of a lemon; 1.5 tablespoon sunflower seeds; sea salt salt and pepper, to taste

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Mashed Chickpea Salad. VEGAN & GLUTEN FREE. Easy, yummy and healthy with lots of veggies, plant protein, fiber, flavor and vibrant crunch

Ever since going vegan about a year ago, I’ve been making this ‘Mashed Chickpea Salad’.

It’s one of those recipes that never gets old! The easiest, healthiest and yummiest lunch around. Everything I love is all wrapped up in one bowl of super delish mish-mosh! Crunchy, savory and sweet – all the elements in every bite.

Plus, the leftovers are always more scrumptious the next day, once all the flavors mesh together. This time, I took it up a notch and added a little kale.. because why not?! The kale goes unnoticed and this way, we can get in some extra greens 🙂 I also chopped up an apple to add crunch and a subtle sweetness that helps to balance out the flavors.

With plenty of plant protein from the chickpeas and veggies, lots of fiber and vibrant color, this will soon become your new favorite lunch! You can wrap it up in a tortilla or collard wrap, you can spread it over toast (my fave) you can make a sandwich out of it, or you can eat it plain. This Mashed Chickpea Salad never gets old; your tummy will be full and happy. Honestly though, I always turn to this salad when I’m sick of my super green leafy salads… that’s hard to admit because I love my greens, but I go through phases with salads. Sometimes I crave them for a week straight and can’t get enough. Other times, I just feel like blah towards them and would rather eat a chocolate bar for lunch.

Hehe … no really though..

When you are stuck in those in-between weird phases, make this. That’s what I do! (does anyone else actually have weird phases like me?!)

For those of you who used to love chicken salad, this is the most perfect vegan replacement because it’s a similar texture and flavor, but without any animal products.

Haven’t you heard?

Not eating meat is so in right now #meatlessmondays

And staying away from dairy products is THE thing to do #nondairy #dairyfree

All joking aside though, I do believe that anyone can thrive and live a most fulfilling and vibrant life with perfect health while being a plant based vegan. I know some people will never agree with that and will never get over the ridiculous protein debacle but hey, I’m happy to keep encouraging, promoting and sharing the best way I know to live.

How can anyone be opposed to eating high vibrational, living, bright and beautifully colored foods at every meal, instead of eating dead things? This I no longer understand. I will say that the new comments on My Vegan Story has been pretty magical; it warms my soul! While it was written when I first started blogging, it’s slowly becoming one of my more popular posts. What I love most is hearing other people’s stories and journeys of how they discovered this lifestyle, what documentaries/books changed their minds and them being able to talk about it. At the moment, the only vegans I know live online and all over the world, so it’s nice to connect with like-minded people, even if it’s through a screen 🙂 Actually, we have been making friends out at vegan restaurants (like we did this past Valentine’s Day) but they haven’t been the kind of people we would hang out with if ya know what I mean.

For this ‘Mashed Chickpea Salad’, you will need:

chickpeas
carrots
celery
apple
onion
kale
cilantro
lemon juice
sunflower seeds
dijon mustard
minced garlic
salt and peppa

Vegan and Gluten Free - Mashed Chickpea Salad. Easy, yummy and healthy with lots of veggies, plant protein, fiber, flavor and vibrant crunch