Smashed Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Salad
A texture kaleidoscope of smashed chickpeas, crunchy vegetables and crisp pickle bits held together with a bright squirt of lemon juice and just enough mayo to keep it together. Your lunch's new best friend.
- 3 cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans) canned or home-cooked
- 1/3 cup chopped onion white, red or yellow
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot
- 1/3 cup chopped pickles bread & butter, dill, Wickles
- 2 tbsp lemon juice fresh is best
- 1/4 cup (scant) mayonnaise Kewpie or your favorite
- 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- salt to taste
Put the chickpeas into a mixing bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
Using a potato masher, pastry cutter (what I use), or large fork, smash the chickpeas so that very few are left whole but enough different sizes to add lots of texture.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Salt to taste.
Refrigerate until chilled (approximately three hours) or overnight (best).
Serve on a sandwich, as a scoop on a salad, or with crackers and vegetables for scooping.
The above recipe is highly adaptable to preference. More onion, less carrot? Go for it! Half as many chickpeas but love all the veg, have at it! More or fewer pickles chopped finer and coarser? Whatever suits your taste buds.
I would, however, hold off on smashing the chickpeas to a paste. That will make the filling very heavy (yes, I've done the test for you!) though is perfectly acceptable as a cracker spread.