Serves 4
3 cups cooked or 2 cans (15 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 cup celery, diced
¼ cup diced red pepper
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
½ cup scallions, thinly sliced, white & green parts
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste (about ½ tsp each)
Dressing:
6 Tbsp tahini
4 Tbsp champagne, white wine or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp water (about this amount – as needed depending on how thick tahini is)
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
In a small bowl combine tahini, vinegar, water and maple syrup. Add more water, or vinegar if you’re a vinegar lover, to thin out dressing as desired.
Set aside for 30 minutes to allow flavors to come together.
In a large bowl, add garbanzo beans and roughly mash with a strong fork or potato masher. Mash at least ¾ of the chickpeas so it binds well.
Add celery, red pepper, cranberries, nuts, scallions, salt, pepper and dressing, and mix well.
Serve on your favorite bread as a closed or open-faced sandwich with avocado slices and tomatoes if you have them handy, or in one of these ways below:
• Salad: Serve on a bed of leafy greens.
• Wraps: Great for making tortilla wraps, tucking into pita bread or made into lettuce wraps.
• Crackers: Scoop up with a variety of crackers, pita chips or rye crisps.
• Veggies: Delicious with fresh veggies for scooping. Use red bell pepper, jicama, celery or carrots, cucumber, zucchini, etc
