Guys, I’m obsessed with this salad.
I have made buffalo cauliflower three times in the past 2 months. That’s hysterical since I originally said that I wouldn’t make it again because even though it’s delicious there are a lot of steps and it’s kind of a pain to make. Apparently, taste wins over convenience. With buffalo cauliflower on the brain lately, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found this buffalo chickpea salad recipe. Why didn’t I think of that?
I love chickpeas and I love the buffalo spices so this is a win win. You know, the buffalo spices like from buffalo chicken wings. Just take away the chicken and replace it with chickpeas. Oh, and these chickpeas are baked, not fried. That’s another win if you’re counting calories and fat. Although the dressing is not exactly healthy. (You win some, you lose some.) I used the same dressing from the buffalo cauliflower recipe here. Yup, it’s that good.
Top your salad with blue cheese because blue cheese and spicy buffalo flavors go hand in hand. I’ll be honest, the blue cheese slightly freaks me out. I suppose it doesn’t bother me when the cheese chunks are in the dressing because you don’t see the mold. Ignorance is bliss. Maybe the next time I make this, I’ll add the cheese to the dressing. Although knowing me, it will still bother me because I’ll have prepared it and seen it. Did I share too much of my weirdness?
I love eating a salad when it doesn’t feel like I’m eating a salad. You know what I mean, right? Well, this is one of those salads.
Buffalo Chickpea Salad Recipe
(Makes 2 servings)
Ingredients for the Buffalo Chickpeas:
- 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/8 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot Original.)
Ingredients for the Salad:
- lettuce (I used romaine lettuce but you can certainly use any other kind you like.)
- handful of grape tomatoes, sliced
- sprinkling of red onion, finely chopped
- sprinkling of crumbled blue cheese
- dressing (I used homemade ranch dressing.)
Directions for the Buffalo Chickpeas:
- Preheat the oven to 425degrees F. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Add the chickpeas, oil, salt, and pepper to the prepared baking sheet, and mix everything together.
- Bake the chickpeas in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- While they are baking, in a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce.
- When the chickpeas are done baking, brush the hot sauce mixture all over the chickpeas and then place them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Directions for the Salad:
- To plate each serving, add lettuce, sliced tomatoes, chopped red onion, crumbled blue cheese, and buffalo chickpeas.
- Top each serving with ranch dressing.
Adapted from: The Curious Plate
