What’s Up with Vegans and Garbanzo Beans? + Lemony Garbanzo Salad

So fresh and so clean, clean

Hot damn, vegans do like to eat Garbanzo beans (aka Chickpeas)!

Go to ANY vegan potluck and there will be an onslaught of Garbanzos. From hummus to chickpea spread (which is basically hummus). THE VEGANS WILL BRING THE GARBANZOS!

There will be a 3-bean chili that definitely has Garbanzos in it, as well as curry roasted chickpeas, and of course, the garbanzo quinoa medley that all of the skinny people are huddled around.

If there’s one thing I know, it’s this:

Where there is a garbanzo bean, a vegan isn’t far behind.

I even do it on this blog.

From Vegan Deviled Egg filling to Vegan Crab Cakes and of course, today’s recipe, Lemony Chickpea Salad.

Whether you’re vegan or not, this recipe is super duper tasty.

If a vegan suddenly pops up and magically appears in your kitchen after you make this lemony chickpea salad, don’t say that I didn’t warn you!

Whole Food Plant Based Lemony Chickpea Salad

Author: Molly Patrick

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked Garbanzo beans 390g
  • 3 large chard leaves chopped
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes 85g, quartered
  • ½ cup raisins 80g
  • ½ cup raw walnuts 50g, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon 30ml
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt 1.5g

Instructions

  • Place Garbanzo beans, chard, tomatoes, raisins, walnuts, fresh lemon juice and sea salt in a large bowl and gently mix until everything is combined.

If you want to make your garbanzo beans from scratch, here's how to do it using a pressure cooker (which is my preferred method). (makes 3 cups of beans / 685g)

  • Soak 1 1/2 cups (260g) dry garbanzo beans for at least 8 hours.
  • Drain and rinse the beans and place them in a pressure cooker along with 6 cups of water and 1 tablespoon (15ml) of olive oil.
  • Lock the pressure cooker lid into place and place the valve on top.
  • Turn heat to high and bring beans to pressure. You will know they are at pressure when the cooker starts hissing and making lots of noise (it will take about 10-15 minutes to reach pressure).
  • Turn heat to medium and cook for 25 minutes (start timing it after they have reached pressure)
  • After 25 minutes, turn off heat and allow the pressure to come down, about 15 minutes. If you are in a hurry, carefully bring the pot to the sink and run cold water over the lid until the pressure has gone down.
  • If this is the first time using a pressure cooker, please read the instruction guide before making your first batch of beans.

Notes

If you make this in advance, hold off on adding the walnuts until you’re ready to eat. This will prevent the walnuts from becoming soft.

Whole Food Plant Based Lemony Chickpea Salad

Whole Food Plant Based Lemony Chickpea Salad

Whole Food Plant Based Lemony Chickpea Salad

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Our Sweary Saturday Love Letters are written by our ex-boozer, ex-smoker, plant-loving co-founder, Molly Patrick.

10 Comments

  1. Mila on April 22, 2014 at 10:40 am

    Garbanzos are awesome because they are so versatile! I probably could eat them every day. I usually use white beans in hummus for variety and because I prefer garbanzos whole.

    • Molly Patrick on April 22, 2014 at 11:04 am

      I’m right there with you. I too LOVE whole garbanzos! xo Keep rockin’ the banzos!

  2. Kaitlin @ The Garden Grazer on April 24, 2014 at 11:26 am

    I laughed out loud reading your first sentence – so true!! My toddler and I can’t get enough of them (as I’m literally eating chickpea/avocado mash for lunch this very minute). Haha. This looks like an amazing salad – lemon and chickpeas together are a match made in heaven. I love your addition of crunchy walnuts and sweet raisins! 🙂

    • Molly Patrick on April 26, 2014 at 7:26 am

      lol! Glad you could appreciate the truth in this! Chickpea / Avocado mash – your lucky little one – I want to eat it!

  3. Shari Weiner on May 11, 2014 at 4:53 am

    What hippie chick doesn’t list chickpeas as one of her main food groups? Certainly not this one! I doubt a day goes by where I don’t consume them in some shape or form. I totally agree with Kaitlin that chickpeas and lemon are a divine match, so I added the finely grated zest of one lemon to this salad. This salad is delicious with a lot going on. Thanks as always for your inspiration and humor! My extended family will be enjoying this for Mother’s Day today.

    • Molly Patrick on May 11, 2014 at 8:14 pm

      Shari, you are awesome and I love you.
      AND, you just proved my point about vegans and garbanzo beans 🙂
      Well played with the lemon zest!
      xo

  4. David Bursky on April 8, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    Can you just use canned garbanzo beans?

    • Clean Food Dirty Girl on April 8, 2017 at 6:27 pm

      Hi David, yes, you can use canned beans if you’d like. 😉

      Meghann
      Team Dirty Girl

  5. Abbie on June 1, 2019 at 3:41 pm

    Subbed kale for chard and almonds for walnuts…working with what I have on hand! Delicious!

    • Molly Patrick on June 1, 2019 at 7:06 pm

      Awesome job!
      xo
      Molly

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