This is a pretty simple salad I just randomly threw together one day. I’d been seeing a lot of these smashed chickpea avocado sandwich spread recipes online and figured it would be just as delicious in a salad with some basil arugula pesto as the dressing. If salads aren’t your thing use a potato masher to squash the chickpeas down a little bit and just spread between two slices of bread for a quick lunch. I prefer this as a salad though – always overestimating how hungry I am and spending hours feeling stuffed afterwards – thanks to the filling aspect of both avocados and chickpeas. Best of all this can easily be made vegan with a simple vegan pesto – don’t worry I’ve got you covered there. As long as you have a food processor (and I highly recommend investing in one – I love my kitchen aid 7 cup) this is a breeze.
Helpful kitchen tools for this recipe:
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KitchenAid KFP7I5 7-Cup Food Processor, White
- though it costs a whopping $120 this is an essential tool in the kitchen, which can be used for making so many different things – sauces, dips, dough, etc. Once you have one it’s good for years so you only need to buy a good one once.
- 1 can chickpeas, rinses and drained
- 1 avocado, cubed
- lemon juice
- salt, pepper,
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 2 handfuls spring mix or arugula, sliced
- 4 tablespoons vegan basil arugula pesto
- Squeeze lemon juice over cubed avocado. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy (mash chickpeas beforehand if using this as sandwich filling).
Welcome to Avocado Pesto! Long time foodie and travel enthusiast, I started this blog to share my curious culinary efforts and kitchen endeavors. Here you'll find a smorgasbord of ethnic cuisines and hopefully a few humorous tales too.
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice pictures!
It may have been simply thrown together, but there’s nothing simple about those flavors. It looks delicious! Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to try it.
Let me know what you think — or if you add different ingredients how they pair together!
Looks like there’s tons of flavor (and health benefits) in that bowl! Just what I’m looking for!
And so simple to throw together!
Avocado is a grand food to always add in the mix when the recipe permits. One of the major benefits I draw out of avos is their life sustaining properties. There is just no harm to having it as a daily dietary intake. Folate, Fatty acids, Oleic, help fight many illnesses including heart problems. High cholesterol can be significantly lowered within 5 to 7 days if avo is the main ingredient in your recipe.
There are so many avo tricks out there that are just worth trying. SAAGA – South African Avocado Growing Association – is an avocado company and they host hundreds of avo tuck-ins.
Avocados, Avocado, Avo
They are worth checking out. LIKE YOUR WORK AVOCADO PESTO!
Omfg….. I want this naooooo
next time you come over I’ll make you some!
We made this with fresh, organic basil from my green workplace’s on-site garden.
We unfortunately couldn’t help messing with it and added about 2t of hot sauce and it was thoroughly yummy!
Hot sauce sounds like a great addition to the recipe! Will have to try adding it next time! I wish my workplace had an on-site garden! Lucky you!
You had me at avocado. Then add chickpeas and pesto, I am there. This recipe sounds simple and delicious – on my must make list!
Theresa recently posted..Tomato Bread Salad
Hope you enjoy it!
Yea, I’ll be there in 10. BTW, how far are you from the Midwest? Better make that 15
Dee recently posted..En Papillote – Cooking In Pouches
Unfortunately I’m all the way in DC – nowhere near the Midwest : /
I just made this meal of love, except I used chopped kale in place of mixed greens..and oh my yum,good! We’re having it in buns..if I can stop myself from eating it before then;p
So glad you enjoyed this and thanks for coming back to comment and let me know! Great idea to use kale instead of mixed greens — will have to try that next time!
Where do I find the pesto???
Hi Debbie the pesto recipe is here: http://avocadopesto.com/2012/07/18/vegan-basil-and-spinach-pesto/ Enjoy!
This could be dangerous. Love everything about it color, flavors, simplicity. Gorgeous !
Michelle @amourbeurre recently posted..Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it if you end up making it! Have spent the last 7 weeks in China and have not seen a single avocado! Have definitely been missing them!
Vicky,
Since I’m currently unable to have chickpeas I was prompted to find a replacement. While on the journey I ended up making quite a few different alterations…and I wasn’t disappointed!
Being a little on the active side, I decided I need to amp up my protein/calorie intake since I took out the chickpeas. For this, I added Quinoa and broccoli. I also love the crunch and freshness that Cucumbers offer so I added some of that (peeled). Then I added some sprouts and used Romaine lettuce as my base. Finally, I decided to make my own creamy walnut pesto sauce with nutritional yeast. I used coconut milk as my base!
Topped of with flax and chia seeds, this turned out to be perfectly crunchy, light but creamy, packed full of nutrients, loaded with good fats, and a great go-to salad before any rigorous activity.
So, thank you for this recipe and also for filling my bookmarks bar with a bunch of other recipes I can’t wait to try!
Best wishes and tons of praise,
Casey
Casey,
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and can I just say WOW – you have really transformed my recipe into something that sounds even better than the original dish! Please please share your creamy walnut pesto!!! I have never tried making pesto with coconut milk but it sounds like a brilliant idea! I am seriously super impressed with the spin off my salad you created! Sounds delicious and I would love to make your version next time I get my hands on some quinoa (none of it here in South East Asia) but in the meantime I’ll send off these ideas to my mom to try at home!
I love pesto recipes, and i can’t wait to try this!
Juliet recently posted..TGIFractionista-Happy Chinese New Year & Wear Red!
Me too! Enjoy!
This was so amazingly delicious and rich. We had it with pasta but it makes an incredible spread on toasted squaw. I added a little garlic. Love this. It’s going to be a new favorite. So easy & quick. The hubby really loved it too.
Thanks so much! So glad you both enjoyed this!
Oh this salad looks so delicious. Really excited to try it.
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