Candyce's Avocado Chickpea Salad

Recently, I've been experimenting with raw foods, herbs and spices to create new and exciting culinary experiences for my family. I have a few requirements my food needs to meet.

1) It needs to nourish our bodies at a cellular level.  
2) It needs to be bursting with flavor.
3) Must be visually appealing.
4) It needs to be easy and quick to make.

Everyday I've had fun- working with ingredients that are full of nutrients and color. Here's one of my most recent experiments. Honestly, it's now going to become a regular on our family menu. It's delicious all by itself, or it would pair beautifully with grilled fish, chicken or steak.  It would even go great beside some tuna salad, or eaten with organic corn chips. However you decide to try it, I know that you will enjoy every bite, feeling satisfied and healthy upon consumption.

Ingredients:
4 large avocados
1 container of sweet grape tomatoes
3 juicy limes or 2 juicy lemons
2 cans of organic garbanzo beans
3 green onions
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
2 teaspoons of kosher salt or to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste

*As a luxurious option, you can drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top of the salad, or lay spicy sprouts underneath for a "wow"presentation.

Follow the pics! 

Get all of your ingredients ready. 

 


<-------- THIS is an avocado slicer. It is wonderful and makes the prep of these green beauties quick and clean. ;) Just slice the avocado in half and press this thru all the way to the bottom. You end up with lovely slices of creamy green goodness. 








It turns avocados into these pretty even slices. See below.

 

Squeeze the limes or lemons all over, covering as much of the avocados as you can. Then add the sweet grape tomatoes. Don't forget to wash them! 

Rinse the 2 cans of organic garbanzo beans until the water runs clear and there are no more "suds." Then, add them to the salad.

Finely chop the 3 green onions. Add them to the salad. 

Take the whole bunch of aromatic, freshly washed cilantro and chop it all up! (minus the stems)
Dump it in. 
 

 

Add 2 heaping tablespoons of chia seeds. If you let the chia seeds sit for a long time in liquid, they will start to get gelatinous. Don't worry, just pretend your eating baby boba. ;) They are SOOO good for you and help pull out lots of toxins your body wants to get rid of. Actually, the same goes for the cilantro.

Now, if you are wanting to create a fancy shmancy presentation,  you can cut off the other end the the can of garbanzo beans and use it as a mold to shape  your salad. Just place some sprouts (I like spicy sprouts) underneath, then put your can on top. Pile in some yummy salad 2-3 inches high. The reality is, the more you put in, the less likely it is to stay in a circle. That's okay. If it stays in a circle you can be trendy, and if it falls out, you can be rustic. See, not so hard! :) Gently remove the can... I said gently, and "oooooo" and "awww" over your lovely presentation. You can drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top if you want, and give a little extra pinch of kosher salt, and/or some freshly ground black pepper. 

 

Here it is in a serving bowl. It looks messy, but if you made it at home I can promise- you will be salivating by now. It was so hard to take pics and not take a bite. Seriously. 

This was ALMOST trendy, but came out rustic. Anyway you present it, it's going to be a winner. :)

There it is again, cause I know you want to see another, "I want my food to be in a magazine, " picture. 

I hope you enjoy this salad. If you make it, leave me a note, post it on FB or send me a private message. Let me know how you liked it, and what you served it with. Betay Avon! :)

- Candyce