November 10, 2011

Avocado Lime Chickpea Salad

avocado lime chickpea salad
When I heard about Hostel Bookers’ contest for easy budget recipes on Food Bloggers of Canada, I was intrigued. I’ve stayed at too many hostels to count throughout various travels, so I have a good idea of the challenges of trying to find or make food on a budget and with limited resources.

Since chickpeas are one of my go-to ingredients whenever I need a quick and easy meal, it wasn’t hard for me to come up with a 5-ingredient, 5-step recipe for the contest. I remembered an avocado chickpea salad I loved from Naturally Ella, and decided to combine it with the flavours of one of my favourite meals, mojito tilapia bites. The result was a refreshing and flavourful avocado lime chickpea salad that with the addition of mint, tasted (almost) just like a mojito! While it may seem out of place in November, sometimes I need a break from all the heavy winter stews and pastas, and this was just the thing I was in the mood for!

I ate this salad as a main course because the chickpeas provided protein and the avocado added some healthy fats and fiber that filled me up, but it would also be a great side dish if you’re serving a crowd!

This recipe has less than 5 ingredients (not counting pantry staples like olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper), less than 5 steps, takes 5 minutes to prepare, and costs less than 5 dollars. Can’t get much better than that!

avocado lime chickpea salad
Avocado Lime Chickpea Salad

Inspired by this avocado chickpea salad from Naturally Ella and these mojito tilapia bites

Serves about 2-3 as a main course, or 4-6 as a side

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, diced
1 lime – zest and juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/4 cup packed finely chopped mint

Directions:

1. Combine chickpeas and avocados in a medium bowl.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients: lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Add the dressing and the mint to the chickpeas and stir everything together to combine.

11 comments:

  1. I love how simple this is and yet the combination of ingredients tasted so good! It would be nice and refreshing in the summer but I would be happy to eat it all year long :)

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  2. @Genevieve
    Agreed .. Mojitos themselves I think should be reserved for summer, but I'm happy to eat mojito-flavoured things year round :)

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  3. Hey! I made a version of this last night, but I added pineapple, mango, red pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, and tomato, and left out the olive oil.

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  4. @sara
    Hey Sara! I think your first comment disappeared but I saw it in my email .. your version sounds delicious! I love chickpea salads - so easy and healthy too!

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  5. quick question: how long does it take before the avocado turns brown? I want to make it at night and then have some for lunch the next day...

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  6. @Anonymous
    I did the same thing (made it for dinner and had the leftovers for lunch the next day) and the avocado was still fine for me, although the salad didn't taste quite as good as it did the night before. The lime juice should help slow down the browning so just be sure the avocado pieces are evenly coated, and that you immediately store the salad in an air tight container in the fridge and hopefully it works!

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  7. thanks for the speedy response! I look forward to trying it!
    -Jane

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  8. This was absolutely delicious and very filling!  One of my friends made it yesterday but substituted the chickpeas for shelled edamame!  Wow, the crunch was amazing!  This will be one of my favorite new dishes!

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  9. Thanks, Leanne!  I love hearing how other people like dishes and I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed it ..  I'll have to try the edamame version sometime, it sounds like a great idea!

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