I love “meal” sized salads that carry enough punch they fill you up and let you feel satisfied. This vegan and oil-free salad fits the bill. It has a bunch of potato and chickpeas added to add a bunch of fiber, starch, and protein to fill your stomach and leave you satiated at the end of the meal. The dressing is what makes it though. The tahini and nutritional yeast both add a bit of creaminess and nuttiness to the dressing and the apple cider vinegar balances it out nicely with a bit of acid. And it seems to pair perfectly with the potatoes and chickpeas. Whole food plant based does not need to be boring or drab. You won’t miss a thing eating this salad, it’s inexpensive if you’re on a budget, and you can make it for the whole family in a half hour or less.
I like the potatoes to be a little bit warm when serving this salad. The timing always seems to work out if I cook them while starting to chop vegetables, or just a little bit before. They will cool just enough to not scald your fingers while chopping them up for adding to the salad bowl.
Creamy potato and chickpea green salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 6 cups green leaf lettuce or other salad green
- 3 cups potato cooked and cubed
- 1.5 cup chickpeas cooked or rinsed, and drained*
- 2 cup cucumber sliced
- 1 cup celery sliced
Dressing
- 1/3 cup cilantro or parsley – fresh, roughly chopped.
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup white beans cooked
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp tahini
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup optional
- 3 Tbsp garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp ginger minced
- 1/2 tsp sea salt optional
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes (boil, microwave, or roast) and set aside to slightly cool as you prepare the salad.
- After washing/rinsing and slicing, add vegetables and the chickpeas to a large salad bowl.
- Add all dressing ingredients except cilantro/parsley to a food processor or high speed blender and combine well until smooth. Add the cilantro or parsley and pulse until finely diced.
- Dice the potatoes into cubes (if necessary).
- Add chopped potatoes and dressing to the bowl and gently toss. Add the dressing in small increments, you might not need/want all of it.
- Optionally season with ground black pepper and/or red pepper flakes.
- Optionally season with ground black pepper and/or red pepper flakes.
Notes
* Can omit or use your preferred sweetener, such as stevia (recipe to make your own here).
* 2 Main servings, or 4 side salads.
Alternatives and swaps
As with any salad, you’ll have a lot of flexibility! I feel that a particularly good addition or substitution to this salad would be peas. I really wish I had either some snap peas or shelled english peas to add to the salad.
Any kind of leaf will work as your green. A particularly good alternative to the standard leaf lettuce used here would be arugula.
A drizzle of hot sauce never hurts either!
