Buffalo chickpea salad with blue cheese dressing

Yep. I admit it…. I’m on the crispy chickpea train.

I just can’t get enough.

It all started with the spicy chickpeas in the butternut squash soup I made a few weeks back. Addicting little buggers, chickpeas.

New Year’s resolution 2015: MAKE ALL THE CRISPY CHICKPEAS! Curried chickpeas, cinnamon chickpeas, pickle chickpeas (ick? no way!), banana bread chickpeas (ok, yes ick.). This time though……. this time it’s

BUFFALO CHICKPEAS.

Buffalo chickpeas you guys. Spicy, crispy, crunchy, vinegary, chickpeas. On a salad. With blue cheese dressing. (NOT ick.)

First, make your buffalo sauce and roast those chickpeas. Then you make your dressing, Cut your veggies, and throw it all together. In the end it takes a while yes, but……… BUFFALO CHICKPEAS!

Am I overdoing it yet?

This may not be for everyone, but it’s definitely a keeper recipe for me. I actually saved a bit of the sauce before roasting to toss on the salad as part of the dressing. Made it mega-spicy. In a mega-good kind of way. I’m leaving this recipe without the extra sauce though, since it might turn off a few folks. Also, it’s REALLY really hard to get a good photo of a salad tossed with white dressing. Ugh. Alas, you get “perfect rainbow” salad that no-one could actually eat. BAM.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Buffalo chickpea salad with blue cheese dressing
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Prep time 20 mins
Cook time 40 mins
Total time 1 hour
A spicy and flavorful salad made with crispy buffalo chickpeas, and creamy blue cheese dressing.
Author: Trish Serves: 4 large servings
Ingredients

• 3oz cayenne hot sauce, such as Frank's
• 2oz unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• small dash of cayenne powder
• 1 15oz can chickpeas
• ⅓ cup blue cheese crumbles
• 4 Tablespoons low-fat buttermilk
• 3 Tablespoons sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• ½ Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon garlic salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 small carrots, chopped
• 8 mini bell peppers, seeded and sliced
• ¼ cup green onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. FOR THE CHICKPEAS:
2. Heat first 5 ingredients through cayenne in a small saucepan over medium heat. When butter is melted and sauce begins to boil, take off heat and let cool slightly.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Rinse chickpeas and pat dry well with a paper towel.
5. Spread chickpeas on lined baking sheet and toss with buffalo sauce.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing chickpeas once halfway through.
7. FOR THE DRESSING:
8. Mix blue cheese and buttermilk together. Smash cheese with the back of a fork, while stirring to get the consistency of large curd cottage cheese.
9. Stir in next 6 ingredients, through pepper. Continue smashing the blue cheese while you stir, creating a creamy dressing.
10. FOR THE SALAD:
11. Toss lettuce, celery, carrots, and bell pepper together in a large bowl. Divide among 4 bowls and top each with ¼ of the chickpeas and green onion. Top with 1-2 Tablespoons dressing, depending on preference.

Notes For a spicier salad, set aside 1 Tablespoon buffalo sauce before roasting chickpeas, and toss the roasted chickpeas in sauce before serving.
Blue cheese recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com
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