Making the best of my leftovers.

I've been craving chickpea salad lately. I prefer to call chickpeas garbanzos, as it sounds more exotic, but "garbanzo salad" sounds like a green salad, I guess. No logic here whatsoever.

Anyhow, I had some aioli leftover from the fideua (view recipe at the link). As non-vegan chickpea salad is made with mayonnaise, I figured the aioli would serve. I had to add some mayonnaise to make it creamy, as the aioli was not enough.

Chickpea salad is a good substitute for chicken salad, if you're a vegetarian craving something "meaty." I made this recipe for my Thanksgiving meal at a meat-eating house, and it is pretty darn close.

I threw this together today after being inspired by a few different recipes. If I wasn't so tired/recovering from too many vodka tonics at my cousin's bachelorette, I would have made this vegan, using avocado instead of the aioli/mayonnaise.

This method of making chickpea salad uses:

1 cup of dried garbanzos

2 slices of red onion, minced

1 stalk of celery, diced small (nearly minced)

Handful of cilantro, chopped small

aioli/mayonnaise (lemon, garlic, pepper)

juice of half of a lime

I quick-soaked and cooked the garbanzos/chickpeas. Soaking overnight would be better for this type of meal, as quick-soaking always results in a bit of crunchiness. In the case of garbanzos, the outer shell of the bean comes off when you mash them.

I combined a guessed amount of the aioli with the garbanzos, and mashed with a masher. I ended up using all the aioli that I had, and adding more mayo in at the end.

When they were mashed to my satisfaction/when I was tired of mashing, I added in the celery, onion, and cilantro, stirring to combine.

I had half a lime left over from the green chili, and squeezed that over the mixture at the end, stirring again to combine.

It is delicious, and I can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow. I would love to try the vegan version, when I feel like going to the store.

I love making chickpea salad sandwiches with toasted bread, lettuce, tomato, and muenster cheese.