Chickpea Broccoli Salad

This Chickpea Broccoli salad is so amazing I often call it my “chick-peace salad.” Chickpea Tuna has become very popular these days. While I do enjoy a chickpea tuna, this Chickpea Broccoli Salad really tops a regular chickpea tuna any day! The textures of the raw veggies and sunflower seeds really turn it up a notch!

My Chickpea Broccoli Salad is healthy, hearty, filling, creamy, refreshing, and crunchy! I like to eat it on a sandwich, with crackers or chips, or on a big bed of lettuce! Chickpea Broccoli Salad works for lunch, as an appetizer, to bring to a potluck, or even for dinner! I think that this is probably my favorite salad of all time. It’s just perfect. That’s why I call it “chick-peace.” It’s so delicious it brings me to a state of nirvana in one bite!

It is filled with fresh raw broccoli and finely chopped spinach and has some toasted sunflower seeds to add crunch! There is so much texture in this salad, and they work together in a very satisfying way.

I very often make this salad at the start of the week, and I snack on it for a few days. I use this to make some sandwiches or melts, eat it with crackers, serve it on top of mixed greens or sprouts. Sometimes I grill some tomatoes and serve them on the side. That kind of gives me some old school diner feels. It really works lots of different ways!

I’d also like to add that you should SAVE your chickpea liquid from your canned beans! This magical water is called aquafaba! I say more about it in my “Vegan Essentials” guide.

Give this recipe a try! It’s really healthy and yummy. It makes about 6-8 servings, and will stay good in the fridge for about a week! I keep my leftovers in some tupperware in my fridge, and it feels like I have a fun deli-made salad to enjoy whenever I please!

Okay, enough blabbering! Here is the recipe!

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas drained and rinsed. (Always keep your chickpea water! See note below recipe!)
• 2 cups of finely chopped raw broccoli
• 2 cups of finely chopped fresh raw spinach
• 2 green onions chopped
• 1 carrot finely grated
• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1 cup of Veganaise
• 1 Tbs. of dijon mustard
• 1 Tbs. of nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Salad Method:

• Drain and rinse your chickpeas. Again, always reserve your chickpea water! A note again at the bottom on this.
• Put your chickpeas in a large mixing bowl and roughly mash. I leave some big pieces in there. I enjoy more texture and less mush.
• Next finely chop your broccoli, spinach and green onions. Add them to your bowl with the chickpeas. Finely grate a carrot into the bowl.
• Next I toast some raw sunflower seeds in a pan over medium heat. You can add a little oil if you want to help them along, but you can also just dry toast them. Either method works. I do it differently dependent on my mood! You want these to get lightly brown. Keep an eye on them! If they get over done, they’ll be too bitter for your salad.
• After your sunflower seeds are toasted add them into your big mixing bowl. Then add in your Veganaise, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast and pepper.
• Mix and enjoy! Serve on some toast, crackers, or on a bed of mixed greens.
• Peace Out!

*****Keep your chickpea/garbanzo bean water!**** This magical water is called aquafaba. You can learn about it in my “Vegan Essentials” guide. I always reserve the liquid from canned chickpeas and just keep it in the fridge. It works great as an egg substitute for making cakes and cookies. I also use it when I am breading something and even make an Aquafaba Caesar Dressing out of it!! It really comes in handy! 🙂

For more salads, check out my Aquafaba Caesar Salad or my Shiitake, Shallots and Spinach Salad.