Here’s another fun chickpea recipe from “PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook” that I decided to try for this week at work. And…get ready for it…it actually tastes awesome. This is not usually the case with recipes from this cookbook. Now this is a stretch for me. I don’t really like celery a lot. But it is quite healthy and easy to make and filling…perfect for lunch at work. I also don’t like mayo a lot except for in things like potato salad. And oddly enough I don’t like egg salad. So why the heck do I adore this?! I think it’s the simple fact that it is normally a recipe (egg salad) that is really not healthy, but the addition of chickpeas packs a punch of protein and fiber and also kicks the calorie count down. And since the taste of chickpeas is so gentle, it really does taste like you’re eating egg salad.
Chickpea “Egg” Salad
This is a special post today, as in, I wasn’t actually going to post at all today because I’m way busy. But certain colleagues at my internship (Allie and Anne) expressed some interest in the recipe, so I thought I’d leave them with it for the weekend. Maybe I’ll come into work next week and they’ll both have it in their lunches. When I told them that this was a vegan friendly “egg” salad, one of them wanted to know more about Vegenaise, which, for all of you non-vegetarians out there is possibly the most popular brand of vegan mayo. Vegenaise is made by the Follow Your Heart company, and it’s one of many interesting products they offer. I was never a fan of mayo, but I actually will eat Vegenaise (not often, but sometimes) because I know exactly what is in it and it doesn’t scare me like thinking about eggs sometimes does. If you have never tried it, you should. If you end up hating it, I’m sure you have a vegetarian friend somewhere in your life you can gift it to.
Chickpea “Egg” Salad
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup celery, finely chopped
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
dill pickle relish, to taste
salt, to taste
vegan mayo, to taste
1. Mix all the ingredients except the mayo together, mashing the chickpeas slightly as you mix. Once it’s mixed to a soft, spreadable consistency, add the mayo until the salad is as moist as you like.
2. Eat it plain or, even better, spread it between some slices of bread with some yummy fresh sliced tomatoes. DIG IN!
A Poet in the Kitchen 