Last updated on November 16th, 2020 at 03:35 pm
A tuna salad, a chicken salad, a Russian salad, call this whatever you want, it’s actually a vegan mashed chickpea salad. Wrapped in lettuce. Mouthwatering, right?
Look, this one is not as easy as the other salads I usually make here. But it’s not difficult either. This salad is a little different as you’d need to make the mayonnaise part of the salad yourself.
How do you do that? You blend some chickpeas with other ingredients until very creamy and that’s it. Simple and very delicious.
I make this salad quite often, but I’m having a hard time eating it without bread. I love bread. To me, bread is like home. It’s all I ate when I was a child, my mom used to give me some bread with butter and some spice (talk about getting your nutrients).
Now that I’m older, I’m fancier. No more butter and spice. No, no, you simple, carefree and boring childhood. Look at me now, I’m blending and mashing extravagant chickpeas like I don’t care.
In other news, this salad is perfect to make ahead and keeps in the fridge for 3 days. At least mine keeps that long. I noticed that this part depends on how fresh your vegetables are – if I make this salad with vegetables on the verge of molding, I know I can’t keep it for 3 days – the whole thing spoils. That’s just a little tip.
Now, aside from this mashed chickpea salad, I made another one last summer with a secret ingredient. Which if you go to the recipe and scroll down to the recipe box like most impatient folks, you’ll know is peaches. But now you don’t know if I mean the fruit or this Peaches. I’ll just let your imagination run wild like a crazy springbok now. Yes, I did check for the fastest mammals on Wikipedia , springbok is in fourth place.
Health and Beauty Benefits
No secret, this salad has tons of benefits. Not only did we get rid of that fat mayonnaise, we also included some fiber, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer nutrients. Here’s how:
- chickpeas – the main ingredient of this salad, a good source of plant-protein, iron and very high-fiber (good for your digestion)
- onions – there’s so much to love about these stinkers – they’re rich in soluble fiber and good for digestion, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and they detoxify your body. And they’re a great source of some B-vitamins.
- vinegar – I know people love to talk about apple cider vinegar and how healthy it is for you, but the truth is, vinegar in general (whether apple cider or another type) is always good for you. Vinegar is good for your cardiovascular health, it’s shown to suppress appetite and to help lower the glycemic index of high glycemic index foods by 30%. Now, what does this mean? You eat bread with vinegar and your blood sugar doesn’t spike like crazy – it stays stable.
Of course, there are many other healthy ingredients in this salad like fresh peppers, basil, turmeric, cumin and they all provide your body with good nutrients to keep you healthy.
Healthy Mashed Chickpea Salad

This delicious mashed chickpea salad is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and nut-free and is great for wraps and sandwiches!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpeas, canned, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp capers
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1/3 tsp turmeric
- 1/3 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 green or red pepper
- 1 carrot
- some basil, about 10 leaves
- some cilantro (3-4 springs)
- 1 tsp vinegar
- black pepper, salt if needed
- 2 spring onions or 1 medium onion
- Optional additions: garlic, potatoes, celery, chopped olives, lemon juice, cooked broccoli or asparagus, anything you want.
Instructions
- In your food processor, add ½ cup of the chickpeas (the other half is for later), the capers, mustard, turmeric, cumin, olive oil and vinegar. Blend until smooth and creamy. You can also use a hand blender for this step.
- Chop very small: onions, red pepper, carrot, celery (optional), basil, cilantro.
- In a salad bowl, put the rest of the chickpeas and the chopped vegetables together. Add the blended mixture and mix everything together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve on bread or in a lettuce leaf.
Now, I’ll go have some whole grain bread and pretend it’s the same as the white thing.
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