Smashed Chickpea Salad Bites make such a cute appetiser and snack.
Tangy vegan smashed chickpea salad with mustard, pickles and chives is extremely delicious on these sweet and spicy bread bites made with rye bread, raisins and balsamic vinegar. I know, the internet is full with smashed chickpea salad recipes, but I couldn’t resist to post my version too. It’s such a simple and flavourful recipe, no wonder that everybody loves it. These bites make a great appetiser, barbecue side or picnic food. You can also eat this smashed chickpea salad in a good ol’ sandwich or stuffed in potatoes.
Recently I realised that my enthusiasm for pumpernickel bread is kinda gone. I used to eat a lot of this dark, rye bread when I first moved to Germany, but nowadays I actually prefer other type of breads. Unfortunately old habits die hard and more often than I’d like to, this type of bread still ends up in my shopping cart. I will probably eat one or two slices of it, but with the rest I have to get creative (obviously I hate to throw away food).
One of my favourite ways to use up these unwanted bread slices is to make a spiced up crumble with a little bit of chilli pepper, raisins or dates, maple syrup and some fresh herbs. This mixture is great as topping for soups and salads, it has a lovely texture when baked with veggies and beans as a casserole, plus it also works as a pie crust. And of course it makes an absolutely delightful and exciting ‘new’ bread when pressed into a mold. Yay for upcycling!
Use these mini bites as a bread and eat with cashew cream cheese, hummus, lentil spread or guacamole, or shape them into balls, they are brilliant fondue dippers.
If you try this recipe, let me know! I would highly appreciate if you could leave a comment and rate it. Also don’t forget to take a picture and tag it on Instagram (use the hashtag #greenevi) or post it on Facebook! I love seeing what you come up with! ♥︎
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Smashed Chickpea Salad Bites
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 10 bites 1x
Ingredients
For the bread
- 4 slices/1.5 cups of crumbled whole grain rye bread (I used pumpernickel)
- 1/3 cup of raisins or chopped dates
- 1 small chilli pepper (optional)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt, pepper
For the salad
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 2 scallions
- 1/3 cup of chopped pickles
- 1/3 cup of soy or coconut yogurt
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
- salt, pepper
Instructions
Bread
- Add crumbled bread, raisins, deseeded chilli pepper, parsley, vinegar, maple syrup and spices to a food processor and pulse until just combined. You do not want to over-mix the mixture.
- Use a small round cookie cutter (6 cm/2.3 inch) to form the bites. Take about 2 tablespoons of the mixture and gently press into the mold. Make sure the bites are not too thin, so they won’t break (1 cm/0.5 inch is a good height). Repeat with the rest of the bread mixture.
Salad
- Drain and rinse chickpeas, and add to a large bowl. Chop scallions, pickles and chives, and mince garlic.
- Using a potato masher or a fork, mash chickpeas until chunky.
- Add scallions, pickles, yogurt, mustard, garlic and lemon juice to chickpeas, season with salt and pepper and mix well.
Assembly
- Top each bread bite with a large spoonful of smashed chickpea salad. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and chives. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Category: Snack, Appetiser
- Cuisine: Vegan
Evi, this is such clever and cool idea to use the leftover bread! You genius you! And that sauce! Anything with pickles, and I’m all over it! 🙂 Another great recipe! xxx
Thanks, Anna! I feel the exact same way about pickles 😀
They look marvelous! I love both creations. Must try that rye bread crust!
Thanks, Angie! I think you’d like it 😉
Such a clever healthy dish with no compromise on the flavor! Loved it.
Thank you 🙂
This is so clever. I like how you use the leftover bread. I have wasting food too.
Thanks, Anca 🙂
Well, I cannot get tired of eating chickpeas (I haven’t had them for a while though). So if anyone complains about you having posted the 1905489th idea of smashed chickpeas, please just disregard:) Also, I do love this bread idea. How cool is that, eh?! I’m wondering, if I incorporate some egg white (just to keep it together) and then bake it for 5-10 min, would this give some nice crisp, lile dry kinds of bread have…?
Hahahha, thanks, Ben! I feel the exact same way about chickpeas too ❤️
To be honest I’m not sure about the egg whites, since I never really used them for anythings…but I know that you can bake these without egg whites too 😉
Let me know if you experiment with the recipe, I’d love to see what you come up with!
Oh yum! Those bites look scrumptious, Evi. Love that you used rye flour bread here. I love rye anything. This is must try recipe for me. Have a nice weekend. 😀
Thanks, Anu! I hope you had a lovely weekend 🙂
These are so pretty, I bet they taste so fresh.
Thank you 🙂
Oh my goodness, these sound wonderful! I need to try them!
Thanks, Balvinder! I’m sure you’d love these 😉