More of an assembly job rather than a recipe, this simple garlic chickpea salad packs a punch…
When I was growing up in 1980s and 1990s North Yorkshire, I followed a strict vegetarian diet. Surrounded by farming communities meant that this was an interesting time for me – and never more so than when an invitation would come along for a summer barbecue (especially an impromptu one which are, of course, the very best kind.)
I learnt quickly that it was always wise to bring along a pack of Linda McCartney sausages or Quorn burgers from the freezer. Failure to do so often meant that I would be left with a sliced bread roll and some lettuce leaves. Of course, even when I did fetch my own food with me, it would not be barbecued at the barbecue. No – my offerings would go in the oven while everyone else would enjoy smoky bangers and burgers.
As a result of repeated disappointment, I always make an effort when entertaining vegetarian and vegan friends; aiming to make my barbecues as inclusive an affair as possible. For instance – the vegetarians enjoy their own separate barbecue grill and I make sure that they are able to enjoy all of the other side dishes I prepare so that it is only the grilled meats they need to avoid.
One old friend from the 1990s would prepare a very simple chickpea salad for barbecues. Its embarrassingly simple to throw together – involving a few jars and crushed cloves of garlic. Nevertheless, it packs a punch and is always complemented when I make it. You can adjust the quantities of garlic to suit – I find four raw cloves just enough for this amount, but feel free to scale this up or down to suit your personal taste.
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Garlic Chickpea Salad
- Total Time: 3 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 x 400g cans of Chickpeas in Water
- 4 x dessert spoons of good quality shop-bought mayonnaise (about 160g in total)
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Instructions
- Drain the chickpeas from the cans and shake to remove the water. Put into a mixing bowl and stir through the mayonnaise and crushed garlic. If you are wary of the garlic being too strong for you, add two of the cloves and taste to test.
- Spoon into a clean serving bowl before presenting to the table.
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: salad, side dish
- Cuisine: salad
Keywords: barbecue, barbecue food, chickpeas, salad, side dishes
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