chickpea + artichoke salad

As a vegetarian, one of the things I miss is chicken salad sandwiches. Not the chicken part, but the salad-on-a-sandwich part.

Not too long ago, I found this recipe in an issue of Vegetarian Times, and it’s been a part of the regular rotation in our kitchen ever since. It’s a pretty reliable no-chicken chicken salad recipe, but since the main ingredients are chickpeas and artichokes, we like to call it the “chick n’ choke” salad.

chick n’ choke salad in a pretty bowl

This salad is a breeze to make. Use your food processor to mix up some chickpeas, artichoke hearts, Dijon mustard, Old Bay seasoning, a little bit of vegan mayo, and a few small handfuls of this and that. You’ll end up with a chunky salad that is easily spreadable on bread or crackers. I am particularly partial to this salad on slices of pumpernickel or rye with crunchy lettuce and a slice of tomato. But I only had regular multi-grain bread on hand when I made this the other day, and that works, too.

delicious!

Another way we love to eat this is with crackers. We used to always eat it with Ritz, but I am really enjoying this salad with those new nut thin crackers from Blue Diamond. Give those a try!

This is a perfect recipe to add to your repertoire of hot weather meal ideas. Chick n’ choke salad makes a great cold dinner, when it’s just too warm to spend more than ten minutes in the kitchen. Make it up the night before, let it chill in the fridge overnight, and eat it the next day for lunch, snacks, dinner, or all three.

Hope you enjoy this one! I’ll be back later this week with another tasty idea. ~Inge

Chickpea + Artichoke Salad
Adapted from Vegetarian Times

There are a lot of ingredients for this salad, but each one adds important flavor, so my advice is to not skip anything. Use any kind of onion you have on hand, and swap the red pepper for a green bell pepper, if you want. I always use vegan mayo for this, so I don’t know if there would be a taste difference with regular mayo.   

1 can of artichoke hearts (packed in water), drained
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped small dill pickles
¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup chopped celery
¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. capers
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until chunky, or whatever consistency looks good to you. I like it on the chunkier side. Transfer to a bowl, season with salt and pepper (this part is important!), and chill for at least an hour before you eat it. You have to let the flavors mingle and marry. I like to make this up at night, let it chill overnight, and then eat it the next day.