Jill's Delish Tangy Chick Pea Salad Recipe (Gluten-Free, Low Fat Vegan)

Internet Personality, Jill McKeever, had a fantastic recipe for Tangy Chick Pea (Garbanzo Bean) Salad on her original Simple Daily Recipes site (no longer maintained) but you can find the salad recipe here.  The recipe on this page is an adaptation of Jill's recipe.  I am grateful to Jill for the inspiration.

 My husband and I were eating Low Fat Vegan and were trying to implement Dr. John McDougall's "Starch Solution" as well. I read that book and discovered many exciting facts that I didn't know-- such as you can eat tons of starches (potatoes, rice, corn, beans, quinoa, etc.) without gaining any weight IF you delete the fats and oils and too many processed foods from your recipe. Finding tasty recipes is key to keeping us "in" until we are over the period of fats withdrawal (whenever that happens!) (2026 Note: We still eat a lot of potatoes and other starchy vegetables in recipes, and are pretty dedicated to Plant-Based Whote Food (vegan) eating,but we gave up on attempting to be whole-hog starchevors.)

A delicious tangy chick pea salad open sandwich, thanks
 to the salad recipe from Jill McKeever that you can find HERE

 I have to say that this salad was every bit a hit in our house (there were only two of us at that point-- our son is staying with us briefly and he also loves chickpeas). 

As Jill said, this is the kind of recipe that you can eat repeatedly and just enjoy it every time.  It actually reminds me of a cross between potato salad and egg salad in its flavour bursts and mouth appeal.  My husband is of German descent, so the combo of potato salad on an open face sandwich is irresistable.  He would also prefer Oberlander Rye Bread**, but we're not getting that fussy.

My adaptation of Jill's Tangy Chickpea Salad:

3-4 C. of Cooked Chickpeas (organic definitely work better/taste better to us)
2 T.         Dijon Mustard
2 T.         Bread and Butter Relish (check the labels for crap you don't want like fructose corn syrup)
6  drops   Liquid Smoke (we have Hickory, Jill used Mesquite... whatever smoke should be tasty)
1/2 C.      Yellow Onion, chopped fine (a fairly small onion-- best not to put leftover onion in fridge)*
1 T.         Tahini (sesame seed butter)
1/2          Lemon, squeezed (and mixed together with Tahini)
4             Celery Sticks, fine chopped
1 1/2 T.   Parsley, chopped

My Method:

1. Mix together the Tahini and Lemon Juice, set aside
2. Mash Chickpeas in a large pan or bowl OR put chickpeas, dijon mustard, relish, the tahini/lemon mix, smoke, and parsley in the bowl of a food processor and process until just homogenous (same throughout).
3. Dump contents of the food processor into a large bowl.  Work in the chopped onions and celery.  
4. Put a lid on and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour to let flavours kick each other around a bit.

*A sliced onion will "draw" toxins from the air and from deep inside the body-- why it makes such a great poultice.  If you use a plastic baggie to store it in, it will draw toxins from the plastic, apparently.  Put it into a glass bowl with a glass saucer to cover.

Try this tangy, lovely chick pea delight and see if your family doesn't take after it like Jill's and mine!

**This is an affiliate link to an Etsy German sourdough starter that can be used to make delicious varieties of German sourdough breads. We receive a small commission for purchases through this link. Thank you!

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