Chickpea Radish Hors d’Oeuvres
December 17th, 2007
Stumble it!
I love versatile recipes. This simple chickpea mash can be made into an elegant hors d’oeuvre or eaten plain with a spoon in your pajamas. I must confess, the latter is usually how I eat this dish, but I didn’t think you wanted to see a picture of me in my pajamas on my couch eating mashed chickpeas. So you get to see the fancy version.
While it looks fancy, it’s dead easy. Mash the chickpeas with yummy stuff (recipe below), place a small amount on a cracker, add a slice of a fun veggie, something leafy, and voila! Party food!
I got these breathtaking radishes (I never thought I’d describe a radish as breathtaking. Ever.) from my CSA. They called them “storage radishes.” I don’t know about you, but something called “storage radishes” doesn’t exactly excite me. Imagine my surprise when I sliced one open and was greeted by a shocking pink center. Storage radishes? That’s really the best they could do? What about “Super Awesome Party Radishes” or “Ridiculously Fun Magic Radishes”?
When I sliced them I thought that they looked like watermelon, and sure enough, a google search for “watermelon radish” yielded photos that look very much like these. Watermelon radish is a much better name. In terms of taste, they’re mild and crispy, and a teeny bit sweet. Personally think that makes the perfect as a garnish, since they won’t overwhelm any other flavors in your dish.
There are a few different ways I eat this chickpea salad.
As Hors d’Oeuvres, shown. As a simple dip with crackers or veggies. On open faced-sandwiches. Or–my husband’s favorite–chickpea melts: spread the chickpea salad on slices of bread. Top with your favorite vegan cheese, and bake at 350º F for 10 minutes. Broil to finish, serve immediately.
I use a prepared vegan mayonnaise in this recipe. There are a few different brands out there, but for this I recommend Vegenaise. Nayonaise is a little thinner and has more tang, and while I like it on sandwiches, it’s not the best match for the chickpea salad. I hear Trader Joe’s has an accidently vegan mayo (I think they just bill it as Low Fat, but it happens to be vegan), but I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t recommended it.
Feel free to be creative with your toppings. Carrots, chives, sesame seeds, paprika.. whatever. Think about color, texture, and flavor. There are a million different (and easy) ways to make party food look fun without over-complicating things. But if you can find watermelon radishes, I highly recommend them. They look like regular white, round radishes, but the long root has a pink tinge. Here’s a photo of a whole watermelon radish.
Chickpea Salad
1 15oz can Chickpeas, rinsed well
3-4 Tbs Vegenaise (vegan mayo)
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp Mustard
1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Paprika (sweet, hot, or smoked)
1/2 tsp Salt
Fresh Craked Black Pepper
Mash all the ingredients to form a chunky spread. Refrigerate or serve immediately.
Entry Filed under: appetizers, parties
62 Comments
1. Suganya | December 17th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I wouldn’t dare cooking those radishes. What a beauty.
2. Mike | December 17th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I’m in love with this! I bet any hearty bean would work too. White beans maybe? Beautiful!
3. Laura Faye | December 17th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Those are gorgeous and sound wonderful. Now I want to make them and throw a party!
4. sockbuttons | December 17th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
They’re also called beauty heart radishes. A raw-food restaurant in my town slices them paper thin and stuffs them to make raw ravioli.
5. SaraJane | December 17th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Those are beautiful. I had never heard of storage radishes before this. You’re right about the name. How boring! They seriously make your chickpea crackers look super fancy.
6. Lori- the pleasantly plump vegan | December 17th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
this is really, really beautiful!
7. Helen | December 18th, 2007 at 1:47 am
Entertaining and informative as always! :)
8. the village vegan | December 18th, 2007 at 5:31 am
Those look so pretty! I could totally go for one of those right now…or even better, a chickpea melt. I’ll definatley be trying this one out.
9. Inge | December 18th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Oh that looks amazing! Almost to pretty to be eaten…You really are an artist, your use of color is spectacular!
10. Pam | December 18th, 2007 at 11:50 am
What amazing pictures… you are a talented woman! I love chickpeas and can’t wait to try this recipe! Thank you.
11. kathryn | December 18th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Gorgeous little canapes. I made some with avocado and radish on the weekend – but yours are so much more pretty! I’ve never heard of storage radish before, looks great.
12. Paula | December 18th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Looks delightful! I’ll take this to an upcoming soiree. Thanks!
Paula
13. veggiefrog | December 18th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
I just made the Chickpea Salad and it was awesome! I only had Nayonaise to work with and I think Vegenaise would be much better. Next time I have to try it with the bread and radishes. :)
14. Redheadtheresa | December 18th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Lolo, this looks awesome. I’m making it tonight for dinner. Whoever mentioned a chickpea melt…yep, that’s the ticket.
By the way, I’ve missed you at the PPK.
15. sheree | December 19th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Perfect! What else can one say? I love them. I want to eat them. You are amazing!!!!
16. selina | December 19th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
i vote for: Ridiculously Fun Magic Radishes.
I Love Chickpeas so I might just have to try this. Probably with a spoon, in my pjs, on the couch. It’s how I eat most of my meals.
17. Alienman | December 20th, 2007 at 2:56 am
I found you through the marvelous portal that is TasteSpotting. I am bookmarking you now. Thank you for sharing this delicious-looking recipe. I can’t wait to get started on it!
18. FoodieView Blog » R&hellip | December 24th, 2007 at 12:33 am
[...] The beautiful Vegan Yum Yum has a lovely appetizer I don’t think any one would turn away. Simple yet chic chickpea-radish topped crackers. [...]
19. Kristine in SB | December 28th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I made the chickpea salad/spread today. It’s perfect. Seriously. An absolutely perfect recipe. I agree regarding using vegenaise. I think the flavor is more “pure” when using it as mayonnaise-type base. I see tons of variations on this one in my future. Forget canapes….I put a lot of it on a big slap of toast.
Thanks you so much! Kristine
20. kk | January 4th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I made it too! It was seriously delcious. I will be making this again for sure.
21. Wysteria | January 17th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I just wanted to say that I love this recipe. I hadn’t ever had vegenaise before so I originally made it with a very small of mayo. I don’t really like mayo and hardly ever use it but I had to use what I had. It was good so I went to Whole Foods and spent about an hour looking for the Vegenaise. I found it and made another batch and I love it! I ate it on some home made wheat bread (Peter Rinehart’s recipe). BTW this is my first comment, I love your site and am planning on purchasing your book! Thanks!
22. Kacie | March 18th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I have been making almost the exact same mashed chickpea salad for a few years now. I found it online somewhere as a mock tuna salad. I have to say, your presentation of it as a canape is just the visual I needed to inspire me to breath some new life into my old favorite. Thank you for bringing this recipe to the attention of the masses!
23. Easter « Eat Your G&hellip | March 22nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
[...] for dinner tomorrow I am planning on making a chick pea mash. One of my favorites is on the VeganYumYum Blog (I won’t be using the radishes though, I forgot to get [...]
24. Taco | March 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I have become obsessed with your blog lately..and I made this today for a quick open faced sandwich with a melted veggie slice. Only I substituted Miso Mayo (Garlic and Dill) with vegenaise and it was *AMAZING!*
Thanks for keeping up with such an amazing and inspiring blog!
I’m new to the blog world..and I send all my readers over there!
25. Cortney | April 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
These are called Watermelon radishes. (I read it on the back of a box of Bunny Love cereal by Annie’s, coincidentally a day after I read this recipe!)
26. zoom | April 16th, 2008 at 1:25 am
i just made this on my lap in front of my laptop! So easy and good! didint have mayo so i just upped the mustard a little (bad choice) and used plain yoghurt (good choice) and it turned out great! also upped the paprika and pepper by a good lot (i like spicy) and ate them with millet crackers! yummm :D
27. Kimberlee B | May 4th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I just made this and MAN O LIVE did it cure my tuna fish craving from back in the day. I put in some cucumber pickle chips in it, dijion mustard instead of regular mustard and celery and it was so good. My kids had two sandwiches each. This is going to be a regular in our house for sure!! thanks for sharing !
28. Kerri | June 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Wow! I just made this, and it’s goooood!
I was worried about making the whole can of chickpeas – but I’m glad I did. This is going to make a great sandwich once it’s nicely chilled.
29. Lyra | June 10th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I wonder what it is about chickpeas that makes a good mock-tuna salad? I know that our favorite punk rock vegan Isa Chandra Moskowitz has a recipe for mock tuna fish sandwiches that uses chickpeas and seaweed, for a really “fishy” flavour.
Your photos are gorgeous:)
30. Ann | June 11th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I finally tried this…Don’t know why I waited so long, as now I’m kicking myself for missing out on such yumminess for so long. Even the omni hubby loved it! Yay for easy and heatless cooking!
31. kaeosmom | June 27th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
This is what I’ve been craving for years! Deelishous!, the only thing I added was a few dashes of cumin because I love that stuff.Mahalos!
32. meighan | June 29th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
i just made this last night, it was so good & i’m eating it now at work for lunch!
i recently gave up all animal products (except honey) and found your blog and am so inspired! i headed over to harvest on centre and bought a ton of stuff to make 3 of your recipes. it’s been so new and fun for me! thank you!
33. Don’t Mock (Tuna) M&hellip | September 9th, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] I been living all this time? Mashed, cooked chickpeas, mayo, chopped bits of this and that–a perfect replica of that classic fishy salad, both in appearance and taste. It looked fabulous. Sounded terrific. [...]
34. Two Bean Chipotle Lime Hu&hellip | October 28th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
[...] Salad from VeganYumYum, hummus from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, green bean salad from Vegan Deli, bread is my favorite Speedy [...]
35. Gertrude | November 5th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
It has long been looking for this information, Thank you for your work.
36. Lucy | November 10th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I made this on Saturday using my food processor because I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to mash it up. It ended up being really thick, so I added extra lemon juice and some tahini…. it came out awesome and me and my girls ate it up.
37. Tony | December 7th, 2008 at 4:14 am
omg these look amazing! Where do I get them???
38. Rosemarie | December 19th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I’d like to invite you to have a look on a funny home-made decoration – the radish mouse on cold spread.
http://hubschrauber.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/maus-auf-brot-hors-doeuvre/
Best regards from Germany
Rosemarie
39. Panda | February 18th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
This chickpea spread is great on sandwiches. I like to add scallions and tiny bits of red pepper.
For a change, it’s nice to leave out the paprika and pepper, and add a layer of chopped marinated artichoke hearts!
40. Amanda | March 26th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Thank you for this recipe!!
I had to make a bunch of appetizers for a bday party and to save money was trying to incorporate what I already had in my reserves.
I had recently purchased watermelon radishes and they were so beautiful I wanted a recipe that showed them off :)
I just made this for the first time and just finished my first bite.
yum!!!!
The only difference was all I had was Wasabi mayonaise, so I used that so I didn’t have to buy any more mayo. (it wasn’t vegan, but if you just added a touch of wasabi to the vegan mayo I’m sure it would be the same).
Anyways, fabulous the way the flavors all meld together and beautiful too!
41. On-The-Fly Dinner Party: &hellip | March 31st, 2009 at 2:26 pm
[...] been a big twitter brouhaha about watermelon radishes as of late, and a fellow tweeter linked to a blog that showed them beautifully displayed in a pile of chickpeas. As the dinner was impromptu, I [...]
42. Marisa | April 11th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Ohmygoodness. These are so beautiful. I wish I knew where to find these radishes! I’ll go hunting soon.
43. Chickpea Salad Sandwich -&hellip | June 30th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
[...] There are a bunch of recipes out there for chickpea salads. The one above is based on this recipe from Vegan Yum Yum. The first time I made it, I was really reminded of tuna salad. Many [...]
44. romonoeroetoko | July 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Hm that sounds good but I would like to know more details.
45. romonoeroetoko | July 15th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Your news is a cool stuff man, keep it going.
46. Megan@FeastingonArt | July 29th, 2009 at 3:50 am
The radishes are stunning. What a beautiful little bite.
47. TasteSpotting on Turtle T&hellip | July 29th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
[...] Chickpea Radish Hors d’Oeuvres at Vegan Yum Yum [...]
48. amenodimeno | July 31st, 2009 at 12:45 pm
That’s good man, keep it going.
49. amenodimeno | August 5th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Good story for me but please more details.
50. queroeropoo | August 6th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Good information to me.
51. adamoerikom | September 19th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Stunning blog and good article. High 5 for u man !
52. jessica | November 6th, 2009 at 11:48 am
this looks so tasty & simple for an appetizer or just an everyday type of snack. the local coop i work at and the CSA call those watermelon radishes… now that sounds tasty.
53. inkytator | December 31st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I’m so impressed with your recipes and photo talents.
I just made this and it’s insanely yummy.
I’ll be bringing to my party tonight.
Thanks Lolo, you rock!
54. adamusxyz | January 6th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
This is a very good stuff man. But you can be more specific next time. See ya !
55. chelly | February 7th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
at the ferry building farmers market in SF these radishes were all over the place, the farmers called them watermelon radishes. they are SO beautiful and rather tasty!!!
56. VFOA « Feasty Times&hellip | February 13th, 2010 at 9:25 am
[...] * Chickpea “tuna salad” [...]
57. And the Oscar goes to.. &&hellip | March 5th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
[...] I am a big fan of legumes, chickpeas being one of my favourites. These lovely creamy chick pea concoction on a tiny cracker, topped with a slice of watermelon radish is the perfect finger food. Find the recipe here. [...]
58. Instead of salad dressing&hellip | May 11th, 2010 at 5:26 am
[...] Chickpea salad [...]
59. Cookbook Club Sautés Rad&hellip | May 26th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
[...] Comment on Chickpea Radish Hors d’Oeuvres by adamusxyz – This is a very good stuff man. But you can be more specific next time. See ya ! [...]
60. No-Fish Tuesday « M&hellip | June 29th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
[...] favourites. First up, Chickpea Salad Open Faced Sandwiches. The original recipe, entitles “Chickpea Radish Hors d’Oeuvres,” didn’t imply they tasted like tuna at all – it wasn’t until I saw this [...]
61. Watermelon Radish | Naked&hellip | July 2nd, 2010 at 9:01 am
[...] the sweet fresh flavor. But they do make a nice garnish. I like how they were used in this chickpea radish hors d’oeuvres recipe by Vegan Yum Yum, who suggested the name be changed to “Super Awesome Party Radishes” or [...]
62. Chickpea Salad with Vegan&hellip | August 21st, 2010 at 1:32 am
[...] is a link to the original post. Thanks again to Vegan Yum Yum for a great recipe that will inspire many of my [...]