Vegan Buffalo Chickpea Salad with Cool Tahini Ranch

This salad, my friends, is grubbin’. Do kids these days still use the word “grubbin’?” Ughhh. Somewhere along the way, I am realizing, I got old. I come from a long-ago, totally tubular time, when words like “radical” and “gnarly” were thrown about like, say, chickpeas on a totally grubbin’ Buffalo Chickpea Salad.

Anyway, when I use the word “grubbin’,” it’s usually when I’m snarfing down something that is so seriously nosh-worthy that all I can think about is “dang, this is GRUBBIN'”

Okay, I’ll stop saying it. Except, my point is, that word seriously ping-pongs around my head each and every time I eat this Buffalo Chickpea Salad.

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 the chickpeas this way add more sauce and sass to the whole endeavor.

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.

‘Cuz it’s, well, grubbin’.

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 5 mins

Total: 20 mins

Vegan Buffalo Chickpea Salad with Cool Tahini Ranch

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Addicting chickpeas, drenched in red hot sauce and then spooned over crisp lettuce and veggies. So good! But the kicker is that cool tahini ranch. I think this is my favorite salad ever.

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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 or 1 small clove garlic (minced)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

• 5 cups shredded romaine (or a combo of romaine and red leaf lettuce, as pictured)
• 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.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1/4 of recipe, Calories: 402kcal, Carbohydrates: 34.2g, Protein: 12.1g, Fat: 26.6g, Saturated Fat: 4.4g, Sodium: 729mg, Fiber: 12.2g, Sugar: 5.9g