Smashed chickpea sandwich with vegan mint pesto

I love sandwiches. I can eat them any time of the day and this Smashed chickpea sandwich with vegan mint pesto is something you all will love. Not only it is so yumm, it is also healthy and easy to assemble.

I usually lose track of time while I am working and suddenly feel myself extremely hungry. Thank god for sandwiches and dosa batters to help me in such situations. It is also very easy to customise sandwiches based on dietary preferences of everyone at home.

There are some ingredients I always try to have in my refrigerator. For eg, mint coriander which comes very handy to make my favorite green chutney (which I usually have stocked), cucumber, tomatoes, onions are great add ons for any sandwiches. Aditionally with some sauces, chutneys or some cheeses I can whip up something really quick when I am in a hurry.

When I cook for the family I try to sneak in more veggies, protein in. My little doesn’t eat more than one sandwich and so I try to pack as much as possible in one slice and this sandwich is one way to do that. This smashed chickpea sandwich is mild enough for the little ones at home and packed with protein from the chickpeas. The tomatoes, onions, carrots etc add some freshness to the sandwich which I love.

Chickpea is a great soure of protein for vegans / vegetarians and they are so versatile that they can be used in almost everything. I prefer cooking my own chickpeas, but I also have some canned chickpeas stocked for one of those lazy days. This smashed chickpeas sandwich is hearty, simple and protein packed. It hardly takes any time to prepare. You can get creative and add / omit veggies as you please. I love the combination of lemon, mint and chickpeas and also wanted to make use of the abundant mint leaves in my garden. So I made a quick vegan mint pesto to go with the chickpeas and they were delicious.  You can do a basil pesto  as well 🙂

This smashed chickpea sandwich is toddler approved too. Feel free to add some cheese for the little ones in the family 🙂

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Chickpea sandwhich with vegan mint pesto

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

Hearty sandwich with chickpeas, corn, carrots and mint pesto.

Course: Breakfast, dinner, lunch

Cuisine: American

Author: Preethi

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed. ( or 1/2 cup chickpeas soaked overnight and boiled)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onions
• 2 tbsp finely chopped carrots
• 2 tbsp finely chopped capsicum / bell peppers
• 2 tbsp finely chopped cucumbers
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/3 tsp salt (adjust more or less as per taste)
• 1/2 lemon - juice extracted

For the roasted corn

• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/4 tsp chilly powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

For mint pesto

• 1/3 cup tightly packed mint leaves
• 1 tbsp nutrintional yeast
• 6 to 7 walnuts
• 1 small garlic clove
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Other ingredients

• Bread slices
• olive oil / vegan butter to toast the bread

Instructions

1. Grind all the ingredients for the pesto into a paste and set it aside.
   

2. Add the chickpeas to a large bowl. Use a fork and mash the chickpeas as mucha as you can. It is ok to have some whole chickpeas for some texture.
   

3. Add the other ingredients (carrots, capsicum, cucumbers, onions, salt, lemon juice, black pepper) to the chickpea bowl and mix everything.
   

4. To make the roasted corn, add some olive oil to a pan and when hot add the corn, some salt, chilly powder, garlic powder and saute until they are nice and roasted.
   

5. Assemble the sandwich by toasting the bread first in a bot of olive oil or vegan butter. (Or you can use the bread as such). Add the mint pesto to one side of a bread and top it with the chickpea mixture and roasted corn.
   

6. Top it with another bread slice and serve it with some chips / salad.