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Forever and a day ago, I was chatting over a bowl of restaurant gazpacho with a good friend of mine. She had spent some college time in Spain, and it was there she learned that authentic gazpacho has stale bread in it. “Bread!” I thought. “Gross!” I thought. “Uncool,” I also thought.

Okay, so I had a lot of one-word thoughts about this whole thing. I was not a fan of this hare-brained idea, hmmph, soggy bread in cold tomato soup. No freakin’ thanks. But I convinced myself (quite easily, I admit) that I was not eating an authentic, bread-logged version, and polished off my bowl.

Gazpacho is a refreshing chilled summer soup made with garden tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, and other tasty veggies. If you’ve never been inclined to try cold soup, I beg you to try gazpacho. You’ll never look back.

And honestly, I now know that you probably won’t be able to tell if yours has bread in it. It’s used to add thickness and body to the soup. And I can totally appreciate that it does that.

But if I’m making soup at home, bread is going to be a dipping mechanism only, thanks. And up until a few days ago, I was fine with enjoying my own homemade gazpacho on the breadless, thinner side. Until. Until! I had an idea. What if. What if!!! I blended a few chickpeas into the mix to add that thickness and body back into the mix? And even better? What if I added other classic hummus ingredients, too?! Some creamy tahini; lemon juice. Garlic. Cumin. And a few roasted chickpeas on top for good measure.

Creamy Chickpea Gazpacho was born.

To give credit where credit is due, I was inspired by this stunning soup from Andrea, the wonderful farmer-blogger over at Dishing Up the Dirt. It wasn’t much of a leap to take her blended-in tahini and chickpea topper over to gazpacho land. Thank you, Andrea, for inspiring me to chickpea-up some cold soup!

I think this soup is pretty wonderful, and it’s not just because I’m biased and semi-blissed-out by its breadlessness.

The chickpeas and tahini lend a creaminess that makes this soup pretty dang addicting. A shallot adds a bit of heat, garlic lends its signature bite, and lemon makes it zing.

Creamy Chickpea Gazpacho Soup is one of the best ways to enjoy fresh-off-the-vine summer tomatoes, and that time is now, my friends! My gosh, I love tomato season. Bring ’em on. In every color of the rainbow, please.

And then I’ll whir them into chilled summer bliss, piled high with salty-crisp roasted chickpeas, diced tomatoes, and crisp cucumbers. This soup will be happening a lot this summer. Bread on the side.

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This salad is SPICY. But then you also have the icy cucumbers and that cool tahini-based ranch. And one sort of tries to counteract the other, but ultimately, the heat wins out.

No worries; just have a few more sips of beer, because it’s perfect with this thing. Then the burn will be gone before you know it and only the “WHEN will I get to have that again?!!” feelings will remain.

In this Article

• The Story Behind the Recipe
• Buffalo Chickpea Salad Ingredients
• How to Make It
• What to Serve with Buffalo Chickpea Salad

• Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe
• Read Comments & Reviews

The Story Behind the Recipe

I’ve been dreaming about this recipe concept for awhile. At first, I roasted the chickpeas and then stirred in the buffalo sauce, but it felt a little too overly laborious (and when you’re hangry, roasting takes way too long).

Then I discovered these buffalo chickpea wraps and saw how a quick saute made for spicy-hot sauced chickpeas in a fraction of the time. Duh!

That made this salad even easier to whip up, and the chickpeas this way add more sauce and sass to the whole endeavor.

Buffalo Chickpea Salad Ingredients

This vegetarian and vegan buffalo chickpea salad is made up of three components: The spicy chickpeas, the salad veggies, and the ranch dressing.

For the chickpeas, we have:

• Chickpeas – one can of them. Feel free to use cooked-from-scratch chickpeas too! You’ll want about two cups.
• Red hot buffalo sauce – Yep, the red stuff in the bottle.
• Garlic powder – you can use fresh garlic, too.
• Salt & pepper – the classic flavor enhancers.

For the ranch dressing, the ingredients are:

• Tahini – I love tahini-based ranch. It is so good! It lends a creaminess without needing any dairy ingredients.
• Almond milk – any non-dairy milk will do, just keep it unsweetened. Or if you’re okay with dairy, dairy milk will do just fine too.
• Lemon juice – a bit of acid gives a nice kick.
• Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, & pepper – flavor flavor flavor!
• Fresh parsley and fresh chives – homemade ranch calls for fresh herbs!

To make a faster buffalo chickpea salad, feel free to use store-bought ranch. Just stick with a dairy-free/vegan brand if you need to.

Then, we put it all together with these salad ingredients:

• Shredded romaine lettuce – feel free to sub in another favorite green, though romaine is nice and sturdy and holds up perfectly to a pile of buffalo chickpeas. I like adding in some red leaf lettuce for some color and variety.
• Celery – gotta have celery for the full buffalo experience!
• Cucumber – I love the cooling counterpoint that cucumbers provide.
• Avocado – for a creamy texture. So good!
• Red onion – I love the bite of red onion in this salad.

How to Make It

First, make the dressing (or skip this step if you’re using a store-bought ranch dressing). Just whisk everything together in a bowl and set aside.

Next, whip up those saucy-spicy chickpeas. You’ll add some olive oil to a saute pan and warm over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and all of the other ingredients, holding back a bit of the buffalo sauce. You’ll cook until they’re warmed through and golden, then remove them from the heat and stir in the remaining buffalo sauce.

Then, you’ll arrange your veggies in a big salad bowl and pour the chickpeas right over the top.

Drizzle with ranch and dig in!

What to Serve with Buffalo Chickpea Salad

This salad is pretty much a meal in itself, but if you’d like some bread alongside (and you’re okay with dairy), these Brown Sugar Garlic Mozzarella Breadsticks hit the spot.

For dessert, something cooling is always welcome. How about some no-churn Sea Salt & Honey Ice Cream?

I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you tried it and loved it (or even if you didn’t!) please come back and leave a review. That helps others know that this recipe is worth making, and helps me make any needed adjustments to the recipes I put out in the world.

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Buffalo Chickpea Salad

Addicting chickpeas, drenched in red hot sauce, served over crisp lettuce, and drizzled with ranch. This Buffalo Chickpea Salad is SO good!

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword salad

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 432kcal

Author Kare

Equipment

• 1 medium saute pan
• 1 small bowl
• 1 large salad bowl

Ingredients

Cool Tahini Ranch:

• 1/3 cup tahini
• 3-4 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more to taste

Spicy Buffalo Chickpeas:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas drained
• 1/4 cup red hot buffalo sauce divided
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder can substitute 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

• 5 cups shredded romaine lettuce or a combo of romaine and red leaf lettuce
• 1 batch Spicy Buffalo Chickpeas
• 1 celery stalk diced; [about 1/2 cup]
• 1/2 medium cucumber peeled and diced [about 1 cup]
• 1 medium ripe avocado peeled and sliced
• 1/2 small red onion sliced into half-rounds [soak in a bowl of ice water for 10 minutes if you prefer to reduce the bite]
• 1 batch Cool Tahini Ranch

Instructions

Make the dressing

• Add all dressing ingredients to the bowl of a small food processor or blender. Puree until blended, adding additional almond milk if needed to thin it. Set aside.

Cook the chickpeas

• Set a medium saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil. Add the chickpeas, 2 tablespoons of the buffalo sauce, garlic or garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring, until warmed through and golden brown in places, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in additional 2 tablespoons buffalo sauce. Set aside.

Assemble the salad

• In a large salad bowl or on individual plates (your choice), arrange a bed of lettuce. Scoop the warm chickpeas over the top. Arrange celery, cucumber, avocado, and onion over each. Drizzle generously with dressing. Serve immediately.

Notes

A note on servings

I’d say this serves 2-3 as a hearty main course, and more like 4 as a side. 

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 432kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 792mg | Potassium: 899mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 5500IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 135mg | Iron: 5mg

‘Cuz it’s, well, grubbin’.

The post Buffalo Chickpea Salad appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Another thing I’m not sure about? How to pronounce “Niçoise.” For me, it’s one of those words that I read occasionally but have never, to my recollection, actually heard out loud. That “ç” must make it sound really fancy, but yeah. No clue. I need Eminem to use it in a hit song so that I can finally learn how to correctly pronounce the word. Not that that’s, um, ever happened before.

So, this salad! Classic salad Niçoise generally boasts tuna, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives (a small, bold black olive), tomatoes, baby potatoes, and green beans or, if you’re fancy, “haricots verts” (yeah, I’m not sure how to pronounce that one, either). It’s all piled atop a bed of crisp lettuce. A drizzle of Dijon-spiked vinaigrette brings the whole thing together.

But, as I mentioned before, no tuna in this vegetarian salad Niçoise recipe – instead, we’ve got chickpeas! Chickpeas are, incidentally, my favorite sub for tuna – they’ve got protein, they’re healthy, and they’re delicious on their own but also transform into all kinds of various forms of otherworldly goodness.

Once I got the tuna substitution issue out of the way, another pesky problem popped up. I couldn’t find Niçoise olives anywhere! Even at high-end grocery stores with olive bars. No bueno. So I subbed in kalamata olives instead. Is it blasphemy? I’m not sure. But I am sure that it’s very, very delicious.

Olive this Chickpea Salad Niçoise.

You know I had to.

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Plus, they’re pretty – especially when you blend a couple roasted beets in with a little basic hummus for this Roasted Beet Hummus. Vibrant, hot pink veggie/cracker dip? I’m in.

I fully admit that until a couple of years ago, beets were my nemesis food. Hated the suckers! But then, on a whim, I tried roasting them – and learned they’re bad. Not bad at all. In fact, they can be 100% incredible! Roasted beets are tender to the bite and taste absolutely delicious. They’re great straight out of the oven, or marinated, or – yep – made into hummus!

So basically, this tastes like your typical delicious garlicky hummus, but with a little bit of earthy beetiness. I promise, it’s good stuff.

More Hummus Recipes

• Simple & Easy Classic Hummus
• Pumpkin Hummus
• Big-Batch Make-Ahead & Freeze Hummus
• Loaded Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Jalapeno Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
• Green Hummus
• Olive Hummus
• Sunbutter Hummus

More Beet Recipes

• Rustic Sweet Potato & Beet Galette
• Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
• Natural Easter Egg Dye

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Roasted Beet Hummus Recipe

Pretty and pink! Basic hummus goes scrumptious and scarlet with roasted beets whirred into the mix.

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 2 medium beets about 1 pound total, greens removed and scrubbed clean
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) drained, but reserve the liquid
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste I usually use about 1 teaspoon total
• Olive oil for drizzling on top if desired

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place each beet on a square of foil and wrap well. Set on a small baking sheet and bake until easily pierced with a fork, 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Using your hands, slip off the outer layer of beet, or use a carrot peeler. Cut into quarters and add to the pitcher of a blender along with the garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Pulse until pureed, adding bean liquid as needed to get things moving, and puree until completely smooth.
• Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil if desired. Serve with pitas and/or veggies.

The post Roasted Beet Hummus Recipe appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

I got the idea for these pan-fried curried chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) from one of our favorite restaurants in the area. They have fried chickpeas on their happy hour menu, and because I’ve never been one to shy away from a chickpea, I ordered them. Immediately.

They were curried and kicky and a little crunchy and perfect.

I’ve enjoyed many a roasted chickpea, but this recipe was the first time I made chickpeas into snackable goodness via frying pan. It’s probably obvious what I’m going to say next: this will not be the last.

So basically, it goes like this. You heat up some coconut oil and you throw a can of chickpeas (drained, rinsed, dried) in there. And then they roll around and cook and get warm and a little crispy and golden here and there. Then you add your spices. Curry powder, cumin, and cayenne. Toss and done.

Let ’em cool for, oh, a fraction of a second or so (okay, maybe longer if your willpower is stronger than mine). And then … snack, my friends. Snack.

Pan-fried chickpeas with curry spices. Be still my snacking heart.

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I know that a breakfast-for-one recipe doesn’t exactly make perfect sense on a blog that’s all about living together in peace … but sometimes the carnivorous guy and toddler are over there gnawing happily on their bacon, and I feel like I’m missing out on the breakfast action. So then I whip up something special for myself and I feel a little better. So, see?! Even this Lemony Egg in a Spinach-Chickpea Nest helps keep our mixed-diet family happy!

This simple, satisfying, and protein-rich breakfast isn’t only delicious, it’s super easy, too. Seriously – it takes only about 5 minutes to whip up!

Just saute a little spinach …

Smash some chickpeas in there along with some lemon zest …

And make a “nest” …

… for the egg to cook in.

Salt, pepper, a fresh squeeze of lemon juice, and breakfast is served.

The egg cooks perfectly, at least to my taste – a bit of buttery yolk oozing out to flavor the “nest” here and there. And the chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) crisp up in wonderful little browned bits. Yum.

I’ve gotta say, my bacon-obsessed loved ones are totally missing out.

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Not the sharpest tool in the shed, yours truly. But I finally figured it out. And I’ve enjoyed many smashed chickpea salad sandwiches since. This one, though, is my favorite, hands down.

It’s pretty simple. Chickpeas, hard-boiled eggs, all the ingredients for perfect simple guacamole, and maybe a touch of mayo if you’re so inclined – but the avocado is so creamy, it’s really not necessary.

Slap it in between two slices of your favorite sandwich bread, and you’re a happy little bean.

By the way, it’s National Egg Salad week, which is the week after Easter every year. Totally makes sense, right?

Here are a few more innovative egg salad recipes from around the blogosphere if you’ve got even more eggs to use up.

• Greek yogurt egg salad – Damn Delicious
• Fat-free tofu “egg” salad – Happy Herbivore
• Avocado egg salad – Skinny Taste
• Curried egg salad – 101 Cookbooks
• An egg salad sandwich, eight ways – The Kitchn
• Open-faced egg salad sandwiches – The Curvy Carrot
• Edamame egg salad – Spa Bettie

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Smashed Chickpea Guacamole Egg Salad

Garlicky guacamole and hearty chickpeas add character to this satisfying and healthy egg salad sandwich. If you’re making it ahead of time, add a little more lemon juice to help keep the avocado green. Mayo adds a nice bit of tangy creaminess, but can be left out if you prefer.

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned chickpeas garbanzo beans, drained (cooked dried chickpeas work too)
• 1 medium avocado large diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 medium clove garlic very finely diced or grated (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or other coarse salt
• 4 [url href=”https://www.kitchentreaty.com/how-to-make-perfect-hard-boiled-eggs-my-favorite-method/”]hard-boiled eggs[/url] chopped
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise optional
• Additional salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 8 slices sandwich bread

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, mash the chickpeas with a fork.
• Add the avocado, lemon juice, garlic, and kosher salt. Mash until blended, keeping a few chunks of avocado if you prefer.
• Gently stir in the eggs and mayo (if using).
• Taste and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
• Divide egg salad between four slices of bread and top with remaining bread. Slice in half and serve immediately.

The post Smashed Chickpea Guacamole Egg Salad appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

I first heard of it a few years ago when my friend, whose daughter is allergic to peanuts, started sending Sunbutter sandwiches to school as a substitute for peanut butter. And because I’m being kind of a weenie about introducing nuts to my own child, I bought some Sunbutter to see how she liked it.

She loves it – and so do I. This Sunbutter hummus might be the first of several Sunbutter recipes you see around here, because it’s kind of got my wheels turning. Sunbutter oatmeal cookies? Sunbutter no-bakes? Sunbutter, cheddar, and apple tortilla wraps? I must try them all. And then some.

(Note: I realize it sounds like it, but this is not a sponsored post! The Sunbutter people know nothing of me. I’m just kind of obsessed with the stuff right now.)

This recipe is simply an adaptation of my favorite classic hummus recipe. Instead of tahini, I used Sunbutter. And then I sprinkled the top with salted, roasted sunflower seeds.

I loooove this hummus. It still tastes like the real deal, but the sunbutter and sunflower seeds give it an unmistakenly sunflower-seed vibe. We dip carrot fries into it, spread it on rosemary crackers, and use it as a sandwich or wrap spread. And my toddler has been known to just eat hers plain by the palm-full.

And because I’m using Sunbutter on so many other things, I’m much more likely to have it in the refrigerator than the tahini it replaces. Bonus!

More Hummus Recipes

• Simple & Easy Classic Hummus
• Pumpkin Hummus
• Big-Batch Make-Ahead & Freeze Hummus
• Loaded Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Jalapeno Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
• Green Hummus
• Olive Hummus
• Roasted Beet Hummus

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Sunflower Hummus Recipe

A twist on classic hummus, this recipe substitutes Sunbutter – sunflower seed butter – for the tahini.

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 1 can garbanzo beans aka chickpeas drained, liquid reserved
• 1/4 cup [url href=”http://www.sunbutter.com/products-creamy.php” target=”_blank”]creamy Sunbutter[/url]
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
• Olive oil and salted roasted sunflower seeds for garnish

Instructions

• Add everything except the liquid from the garbanzo beans into your blender or food processor.
• Pulse, adding a tablespoonful of bean liquid at a time to help get things moving. Continue pureeing for a minute or so until completely smooth.
• Scoop into a bowl, top with sunflower seeds and a liberal drizzle of olive oil, and serve.
• Keeps refrigerated for 3 – 4 days.

The post Sunflower Hummus Recipe appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Protein-rich chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) and hearty orzo pasta provide the basis for this delicious meal-in-a-bowl. Sprinkle in fresh halved cherry tomatoes, sweet onion, chopped mint and basil, then dress with a lemon vinaigrette and you’ve got a simple – and simply winning – salad.

(Wow. The word “winning” just really doesn’t work anymore, does it? Thanks a lot, Charlie!)

(more…)

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That’s why I love roasted chickpeas. Salty and crunchy – yes. Addicting – yes, yes, yes. Sinful? Nope! These things are healthy, and that’s why they’re a favorite snack in our house.

I love roasting chickpeas with a variety of herbs and spices – this simple blend of rosemary and sea salt just happens to be one of my favorites. But it’s all about the method, really. Feel free to try these with chili powder and a pinch of cayenne. Or toss them with some curry powder. Or just whip ’em straight up with olive oil and coarse salt. No matter how you mix ’em up, I’ll betcha can’t eat just one.

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Rosemary & Sea Salt Roasted Chickpeas

These roasted chickpeas are crunchy, salty, and oh-so addicting. They're also easy and healthy - pretty much a win all around.

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 2 servings

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 1 15- ounce can chickpeas garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or other coarse salt like kosher salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400˚ F.
• Drain and rinse chickpeas. Spread a layer of paper towels on a rimmed baking sheet and spread the chickpeas on top. Blot the top with more paper towels until the chickpeas are relatively dry.
• Place the dried chickpeas in a medium bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil and toss gently with a large spoon. Sprinkle on the rosemary and sea salt. Toss again.
• Spread chickpeas on baking sheet in a single layer.
• Bake 30 - 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and crunchy.
• Add additional sea salt to taste. Serve.

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