Cranberry Walnut Chickpea Salad

By GuidingVegan

Ingredients

• 2 cans (15oz) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 cup organic dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup scallions (green onions), thinly sliced, white & green parts
• mineral salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon each)
• 6 tablespoons (1/3 cup) tahini or vegan mayo
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) champagne, white wine or cider vinegar (I used Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons water (only needed if using tahini)
• 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
• leafy lettuce of choice, to serve
• bread of choice, to serve

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from thesimpleveganista.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Start by mixing your dressing. In a small bowl combine tahini/mayo, vinegar, water and maple syrup. Set aside so the flavors come together. This can be made a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Add a tad more water, or vinegar if your a vinegar lover, to thin out dressing as desired. If using vegan mayo, you may like to add 2 more tablespoons.

In a medium to large bowl, add your garbanzo beans and roughly mash with a strong fork or potato masher. Add in celery, cranberries, nuts, scallions, salt, pepper and dressing, mix well. Serve at room temp or let chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.

Serve on your favorite bread as a closed or open faced sandwich, or on a bed of leafy greens. You may even opt to simply enjoy the salad as is.

Notes:

Add extra of anything you like, and vice versa if your not keen on an ingredient use less or omit!

Change up the walnuts, using pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc. If using sunflower seeds, use half the amount called for.

For the dressing, I have only made this using tahini since I do not use any kind of store bought vegan mayo's. If using vegan mayo, adjust accordingly adding more mayo as needed, maybe 1/2 cup instead of 1/3. I do recommend trying this reicpe with tahini...it is seriously so good that you would never know and it is much better/cleaner for you than the store bought mayos!