Curried chickpea and avocado salad with pomegranate

Definitely our nr.1 favorite salad. For years. Also a huge favorite at my cooking workshops. Why is it so good then? Because it combines protein-rich chickpeas, fragrant and spicy curry powder, creamy mayo, heavenly avocado filled with good fats and crunchy, juicy pomegranate. If you don't want to use pomegranate, cherry tomatoes are perfect too! Since this salad is so hearty, it suits well as a main dish. And it is ready in 10-15 minutes!

serves 6-8 people

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

·         2-3 Tbsp oil

·         2 x 14 oz / 2 x 400 g canned chickpeas

·         2 Tbsp curry powder

·         3 Tbsp soy sauce

·         1 ½ cups / 400 g vegan mayo

·         2-3 ripe avocados

·         1 ripe pomegranate

·         head of iceberg lettuce or Chinese cabbage (about 1 ½ lbs / 700 g)

·         couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes

·         couple of handfuls of fresh basil

UPDATE: Instead of pan-frying the chickpeas, you can also just mix all the ingredients (skip oil) and eat right away. Still delicious! 

Directions:

Heat up some oil in a pan. Add drained and rinsed chickpeas. Cook them for 2-3 minutes. Add curry powder and soy sauce. Mix and cook for a couple of minutes. Add mayo and cook for a minute. Remove the heat and let the mixture cool down for a little bit.

Pit the avocado and slice it. Slice the pomegranate in half and carefully squeeze and scrape out the seeds. Chop the cabbage. Mix the avocado, pomegranate seeds (leave some for garnish), lettuce, cherry tomatoes cut in half and cooked chickpeas. Add some soy sauce if needed. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and pomegranate seeds. Serve right away.

Video recipe: