Lemon Basil Chickpea Salad

Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Open-faced sandwich with tomatoes

I play around a lot in the kitchen.  Which involves dancing, singing and definitely creative liberty.  This is something that I am learning even more about in the Nia classes that I have been attending for the past 2 months.  I am loving it!  Personally, I have fun dancing, but don’t stay up late enough to go to clubs anymore, so Nia is great.  Nothing like going to a dance party in the middle of the day!

chickpeas

First batch of chickpeas in the cusinart

After 2 months of learning the moves and getting used to the style of Nia I have found my confidence grow and I feel more secure in exploring new movements and approaches to the choreography.  This is very similar to my experience in the kitchen.  I do not usually like to settle on a finite recipe.  Often the recipes that I put up on my blog are up for further interpretation and every-so-often I will come back and add a new version to keep you all up to date on the new choreography of a recipe.

Basil and Lemon Zest

Basil and Lemon Zest

My first chickpea salad was the Vegan Egg Salad that I made 2 years ago.  This new version, Lemon Basil Chickpea Salad is not a revolutionary recipe, but with just a few changes I have become addicted to this delicious sandwich or cracker spread.  So if you are a veggie-lover and would still like a creative no-tuna–tuna-sandwich definitely try this one out.  It is perfectly filling, tastes great with tomatoes and is easily portable for picnics or potlucks!

Chickpea Salad MixLemon Basil Chickpea Salad

2 c cooked (0r canned) chickpeas
1/2 c diced celery
2 T Veganaise (or other vegan mayonaise)
1 T tahini (sesame paste)
1 t lemon zest
1 handful chopped basil (fresh)
1 T lemon juice
3/4 t salt
ground pepper to taste

In a food processor pulse 1.5 c of chickpeas so that the texture is crumbly.  Move the chopped chickpeas to a bowl and combine with lemon zest, basil, salt and pepper.

Next place the last 1/2 c of chickpeas in the food processor with veganaise, tahini, and lemon juice and blend until smooth.

Add the smooth chickpea mixture to the bowl and chopped celery and stir completely until all ingredients are combined.

Taste to see if you want to adjust seasoning.

Serve on a delicious sandwich, or with crackers.

Tags: , , , , ,

Categories: dairy free, egg-free, entree, gluten-free, salad, snacks, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free

Posted on Saturday, September 28th, 2013. Follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply