This Vegan Chickpea Apple Pecan Salad is a great summertime salad that is light and flavorful.
It’s also “almost raw” with the exception of the chickpeas a a little vegan mayo and has the perfect combination of flavors and textures.
It’s crunchy from the onions, pecans and celery, sweet from the apples and tangy from the mayo and lemon juice all in one bite.
I showed it as a wrap with organic tortillas and baby spinach, but I actually preferred mine on top of a bed of baby spinach without the tortilla.
Loaded with protein, fiber and healthy fats, it’s a great lunchtime meal and it’s vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free!
5 Fast Facts About Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans):
- excellent source of fiber
- good source of protein
- can help to lower cholesterol
- provides better regulation of blood sugar
- can help decrease cardiovascular risks
5 Fast Facts About Apples:
- rich in anti-oxidants
- good source of B-complex vitamins
- helps to reduce cholesterol
- 1 apple contains 17.4% DV of fiber
- helps to regulate blood sugar
5 Fast Facts About Celery:
- improves immune system
- reduced blood pressure
- alkalizing food
- anti-inflammatory
- lowers cholesterol
5 Fast Facts About Pecans:
- contains naturally occurring antioxidants
- helps to lower cholesterol
- high quality source of protein
- contains more than 19 vitamins and mineral
- excellent source of vitamin E
5 Fast Facts About Onions:
- rich source of healthy sulfur compounds
- excellent for cardiovascular health
- inhibits bone loss in women
- reduced blood pressure
- lowers blood cholesterol levels
5 Fast Facts About Lemons:
- extremely alkalizing
- blood purifier
- excellent for detoxification
- balances blood sugar levels
- contains powerful anti-bacterial properties
5 Fast Facts About Dill:
- anti-oxidant
- anti-bacterial
- aids in digestion
- acts as a diuretic to flush out toxins
- good source of calcium, manganese and iron
5 Fast Facts About Pink Himalayan Salt:
- contains 84 minerals
- unrefined, unprocessed, raw
- promotes stable pH balance in cells
- controls water levels in the body
- aids digestion and facilitates better nutrient absorption
Tip #1: To make sure none of the ingredients overpowers the recipe, make sure the chickpeas are smashed really good and all the veggies are diced very finely in tiny pieces.
Tip #2: You can use fresh dill or the dried dill in the glass jar.
Tip #3: This was so good, I could have just eaten it plain. But you can put it in a tortilla (regular or gluten-free), on a bed of organic baby spinach, in a wrap or even on top of crackers.
Tip #4: This recipe will make approximately 2 servings.
Vegan Chickpea Apple Pecan Salad
Print recipe
| www.thehealthyfamilyandhome.com | The Healthy Family and Home |
Ingredients
- 1 can organic chickpeas (15 ounce can - drained)
- 1/2 organic apple (diced)
- 1/4 cup organic celery (diced)
- 1/4 cup organic pecans (diced)
- 2 tablespoons organic onions (diced)
- 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (Vegenaise brand)
- 1 tablespoon organic dill (chopped)
- 1 organic lemon (freshly juiced)
- 1/2 teaspoon pink himalayan salt (or to taste)
Directions
| Step 1 | Put the can of drained chickpeas into a medium sized bowl and mash them up. Dice into small pieces: apple, celery, onion and pecans and add to the bowl of mashed chickpeas. Add the vegan mayonnaise, dill, pink himalayan salt and lemon juice. Stir together until well combined. Serve on a wrap, bed of baby spinach or crackers. Enjoy! |
Note
Recipe inspired by and slightly adapted from: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/not-tuna-salad
thank you for this recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Hi there MEAI5! Thanks so much…hope you enjoy it 🙂
This sounds delicious! Do you know how many grams of protein and carbs are in the recipe? I’m on a low-carb eating plan.
Hi there Karen! I’m sorry…I sure don’t but you can use an online calculator which can give you that information like myfitnesspal.com or caloriecount.about.com which are some I’ve seen mentioned before.
The carbs shouldn’t be too bad coming mostly from the chickpeas and apples. You will have little protein from the chickpeas and walnuts.
If you don’t put it on bread or a tortilla, you can save some carbs there too.
The recipe will make 1 – 2 servings (1 large or 2 small).
Thanks for your question and I hope you enjoy the recipe 😉
Made this yesterday. LOVED IT! Thanks so much 🙂
Hi there Yvonne! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it and I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know…thank you! 😉
thank you for this recipe…i made it TWICE last week!! my family of 7 loved it!!! of course i had to like triple the recipe to feed everyone but they all enjoyed it!!!
Hi Anissa! I am so glad to hear that your family enjoyed it, especially the children!
One good thing about this recipe in regards to double/tripling it is that all you really have to do is dice more of everything and add an extra can or two of the chickpeas.
You could also stretch it out by adding it on a tortilla, pita pocket, or over a bed of kale/spinach.
Thanks for taking the time to leave me feedback, I really appreciate it 😉
I just made this and it is bursting with flavor! Instead of vegannaise I used raw mayo ( recipe on the rawtarian’is site.) I also used red onion in place of white. I had it on a bed of organic baby kale, Swiss chard and spinach. Thank you for posting!
Hi Elizabeth! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
This is really one of my favorite lunch recipes to make and I even made it this past week for my non-vegan parents and they loved it too.
I’ll have to check out the raw mayo recipe for sure…I’d much rather use that instead of the vegannaise to keep the recipe as unprocessed as possible.
Thanks again for taking the time to leave feedback 😉
You’re welcome 🙂 the raw mayo is super easy to make and very versatile. I also make the raw ranch dressing and I bet even that would be great in this recipe.
Elizabeth…oh yum! Now you have me wanting to try both lol!
Thanks again for the tips, I love them 😉
Hi Karielyn, as a new vegan, i’m really excited to try this recipe out – it packs in good protein with the chickpeas, yay!
I was wondering how many people this recipe serves (as a meal)?
Also, do you have any suggestions for substituting the vegenaise?
Thanks for your wonderful recipe!!
x
Hi Cathy! I love chickpeas and the protein they provide!
I’m really bad about noting serving sizes, but I would say this should make two servings, especially if you add it on top of a bed of spinach or in a wrap.
I’m not a real big fan of Vegenaise (only because it’s processed and not homemade), but I would try maybe mashing up 1/2 an avocado as a substitute. I’ve been seeing recipes on Pinterest where they are using that instead of mayo in egg salad sandwiches, and, it would give you more nutrition and healthy fats. It would change the appearance and give it a green color, but I bet it would be good.
Or, you could make your own homemade vegan mayo…I have a recipe to post for that which I could share with you if you’d like.
I’m glad you’re going to give the recipe a try and hope you enjoy it 😉
Making this today for the THIRD time. Can not express enough how much we LOVE this! Enjoyed it wrapped in red leaf lettuce the first two times, this time it is going to be packed up with some flax crackers for an easy meal after a hike on the mountain.
Thank you for this nutrition packed delicious meal!
<3 🙂
Hi Robin! I am ~so~ glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! I actually made it twice back to back myself!
In fact, I think I might go make some for lunch today now that I’m thinking about it again lol!
I haven’t tried it with crackers yet, but I’m sure that’s really good too.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback…I really appreciate it 😉
Hi Karielyn!
I’m getting a lot of ideas on how I can use chicpeas. Eating vegan is never boring, because we can be very creative all while making the flavors pop.
I love how you share five facts about your ingredients. It drives home the point how healthy and it is and good it is for us.
Take care,
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn! You are so very right! I just started falling in love with chickpeas lately because they are so versatile, vegan and gluten-free too.
I used to buy one can each week but last grocery trip, I bought 6 cans! There are so many chickpea recipes I’ve come across I want to try.
I think I might start buying them dry in bulk and sprout them before using them…extra nutritious!
Thanks for the comment about the 5 Fast Facts…I hope it helps to bring awareness of what is in the foods we are eat – the good that’s in them and the bad that’s not 🙂