Avocado Lime Chickpea Salad

When I heard about Hostel Bookers’ contest for easy budget recipes on Food Bloggers of Canada, I was intrigued. I’ve stayed at too many hostels to count throughout various travels, so I have a good idea of the challenges of trying to find or make food on a budget and with limited resources.

Since chickpeas are one of my go-to ingredients whenever I need a quick and easy meal, it wasn’t hard for me to come up with a 5-ingredient, 5-step recipe for the contest. I remembered an avocado chickpea salad I loved from Naturally Ella, and decided to combine it with the flavours of one of my favourite meals, mojito tilapia bites. The result was a refreshing and flavourful avocado lime chickpea salad that with the addition of mint, tasted (almost) just like a mojito! While it may seem out of place in November, sometimes I need a break from all the heavy winter stews and pastas, and this was just the thing I was in the mood for!

I ate this salad as a main course because the chickpeas provided protein and the avocado added some healthy fats and fiber that filled me up, but it would also be a great side dish if you’re serving a crowd!

This recipe has less than 5 ingredients (not counting pantry staples like olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper), less than 5 steps, takes 5 minutes to prepare, and costs less than 5 dollars. Can’t get much better than that!

Avocado Lime Chickpea Salad

Inspired by this avocado chickpea salad from Naturally Ella and these mojito tilapia bites

Serves about 2-3 as a main course, or 4-6 as a side

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 avocado, diced

1 lime – zest and juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1/4 cup packed finely chopped mint

Directions:

1. Combine chickpeas and avocados in a medium bowl.

2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients: lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

3. Add the dressing and the mint to the chickpeas and stir everything together to combine.