High Protein Napa Chick Pea Salad
This chick pea salad is a vegetarian take on Napa Chicken salad which is one of my favorite chicken salad types. I prefer to pulse the chick peas to make the texture easier to serve on bread or inside a sandwich without the ingredients ending up all over the plate. If you plan to eat this only as a salad, you could just blend the cottage cheese and mayo together with salt and pepper then fold in the rest of the ingredients. My favorite mayonnaise is Kewpie. I have never been a fan of mayonnaise but this one is delicious and adds a lot of flavor to the dish. Because of the cottage cheese, chick peas, almonds and grapes this is high in fiber and protein. I like it over romaine lettuce but it is also good on a croissant as a delicious lunch treat.
Ingredients:
1 can of drained and rinsed chick peas
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 medium bunch of grapes halved
1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste
1-2 ribs of celery finely sliced (optional)
Recipe:
Add the chick peas, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse about 10 times. Scrap down the sides and pulse 1-2 more times. Do not over blend because it will be too pasty. You want the chick peas to be in smaller pieces and the cottage cheese to be blended into the mix.
Transfer the chick pea mixture to a medium bowl and add the slivered almonds, halved grapes and celery if you are using. Fold all the ingredients together. I like to allow the flavors to combine in the fridge for at least an hour before eating but if you want to eat it right away, it will be just as good.
This is delicious served over lettuce as a salad or on toasted bread as an open sandwich. You could also have it as a sandwich on a croissant or roll. It keeps very well in the fridge for several days.
