Creamy No-Mayo Chickpea Salad

Here’s why you should make this chickpea salad when there are hundreds of other recipes to choose from – it tastes great, it doesn’t use mayo (but is still creamy unlike most of the no-mayo versions) and it’s got a decent amount of protein compared to most chickpea salads! Basically, it’s a healthier, lighter chickpea salad!

I really like making a large batch of it to take for lunch during the week. It only takes about 15 minutes to make from start to finish, so it’s a really quick meal prep. This no-mayo chickpea salad is a great lunch option for kids too – it tastes great and sneaks in some protein, fiber, and fruit!

The protein magic in this recipe is from the silken tofu we use as the mayo substitute. If you haven’t already tried subbing in silken tofu for mayo, you should! It’s low calorie and packed with protein. I’m always surprised that the gym bro crowd hasn’t figured out this hack yet tbh, because it’s a game changer!

Ingredients

• High Protein Vegan Mayo – sorry to post a link in a recipe but I try to keep the recipes pretty clean so that they are easy to follow. Anyways, I recommend using this homemade high protein vegan mayo if you’re wanting a chickpea salad that’s lower in fat and higher in protein. If these things are less important to you, feel free to use a store bought vegan mayo instead!

• Chickpeas – any chickpeas will work. Make sure you drain them. A lot of people peel chickpeas for different recipes, like hummus. I did not peel them for this recipe because it takes forever and having them there didn’t ruin the texture of the dish.
• Apple – highly recommend adding apple chunks to the recipe, because it adds a nice crunch and sweetness! You can use whatever apple you like best!
• Craisins – I really like the reduced sugar Craisins; they’re also surprisingly high in fiber! I also feel like this is a must-have ingredient for this recipe, but if you just hate Craisins, you don’t have to add them.
• Sweet Relish – you need this.
• Fresh Dill – I like using fresh dill when I can, but if you only have dried dill, I think that would be OK too. Make sure you chop it very finely!

Instructions

• First you’re going to make the High Protein Vegan Mayo, per the recipe link above. If you plan to use store-bought mayo, you can skip this step.
  • https://proteindeficientvegan.com/recipes/high-protein-vegan-mayo
• Drain the 2 cans of chickpeas. There is no need to peel the chickpeas unless you really hate the texture.
• In a medium-sized bowl, smash the chickpeas with a fork, potato masher or garlic press until they are pretty well mashed. I like to leave a few whole pieces too so that the texture is a little varied.
  • My “hack”? for doing this super fast is to dump the chickpeas on a large cutting board and smoosh them with a garlic press. You could probably use anything with a flat bottom but I really like the garlic press. It takes so much less time than with a fork!

• Cut your apple up into very small pieces. I think the smaller, the better because then you get apple chunks in each bite!
• In the bowl, combine the vegan mayo, smashed chickpeas, apple chunks, sweet relish and craisins. Mix well!

• I like to eat this on toasted sourdough bread or a wrap with some mixed greens. If you’re looking for even more protein, Mission Plant Protein Tortillas work great for this!

**You should eat this within 3 – 4 days**

Silly Little Haiku

Gym Bros, Where Are You?

You can make protein mayo

From silken tofu