Curried Chickpea Salad

I typically eat leftovers for lunch, but today there were none, so I whipped up this simple vegetarian lunch. It's not exactly a mock chicken salad - my friend Emmy has an excellent one that holds together better for a sandwich - but it has a lot of the same flavors.

Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas - if using canned, be sure to drain and rinse well
• 1/4 C. diced celery
• 1/4 C. dried cranberries (or currants, raisins, or dates)
• 1 tsp. spicy brown mustard
• 2 Tbsp. pickle relish
• 1/4 C. Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. curry powder (or more to taste)
• salt, ground black pepper and/or cayenne, to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Taste for seasoning. If you are using canned chickpeas, you probably won't need any salt. 

Chopped nuts would also make a nice addition. If you omit the relish, you'll want to add some lemon or lime juice for acid. 

To make this a vegan dish, omit the yogurt and add additional mustard and lemon or lime juice to taste.

Serve it with some crackers and cut up veggies, or on a bed of greens.