This Chickpea Apple Pecan Salad is made with clean, real food ingredients and no mayonnaise. It has a tangy lemon dill dressing, takes less than 15 minutes to make with no cooking involved, and is perfect for healthy lunches or parties!{ Plant-Based | Vegan | Gluten-Free | Dairy-Free | Soy-Free | Egg-Free | Oil-Free | No-Cook | Medical Medium® Compliant }
Add the chickpeas to a medium-size mixing bowl and mash them using a fork or potato masher, then set aside.
Prep the add-ins:
Dice the apples, pecans, celery, and onions into small pieces.
Add the diced add-ins to the mixing bowl and set aside.
Prepare the dressing:
Add all ingredients for the dressing to a small mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined.
Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
Assembly:
Add the dressing to the mixing bowl and stir everything together until well combined.
Serve on a wrap, bed of baby spinach, in romaine lettuce or with gluten-free crackers.
Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Recipe inspired by and adapted from:https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/not-tuna-saladChickpeas. These can be either mashed with a fork or potato masher. Another option is to use a food processor to process them to a coarse mashed texture, but taking care to not overprocess them because you will end up with hummus! In addition, make sure you buy chickpeas in a BPA-free can.Apples. Any variety of apples will work - I've used both red Honeycrisp apples and even green apples and both are good.Pecans. If you don't have or don't like pecans, you could also substitute with walnuts. If you need to keep the recipe nut-free, you can use roasted sunflower seeds which will still give it a nice crunchy texture.Onions. I prefer to use red onions but have also used white onions. Feel free to use your favorite variety.Dill. You can use fresh dill or dried dill and either will work fine.Lemon. Freshly squeezed lemon juice will give you the best flavor and nutrients since it hasn't been pasteurized, but you can also use store-bought organic lemon juice.Himalayan Pink Salt. This is my salt of preference, however, you can always substitute it with sea salt.Serving Size: This recipe will make approximately (2) cups. Nutritional information is for 1/2 cup which is (1) serving.