Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Wonderful World of Chickpeas

I don't eat sandwiches often. Honestly, I usually try to avoid them, because I'm clumsy and so I will end up wearing the sandwich before it's done. It's pretty much a given.

But yesterday I saw this recipe for chickpea fries which made me think about these socca quesadillas I have yet to make, which in turn made me want to try making a chickpea sandwich. And I'm very glad that I did. I will go out and say this is probably one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten. That's right, folks: a non-sandwich lover approved sandwich.

Frankly, you could give me (almost) anything slathered in hummus and I'm almost guaranteed to love it. Who doesn't love that stuff?

This isn't really a recipe (besides the chickpea batter part), just a list of ingredients. And you could use any vegetables you want, and assemble them how you like, too. This is what I used:

1 recipe chickpea fries (cut into 4 squares)
1/3-1/2 large sweet potato, sliced thinly
1 red bell pepper, sectioned into quarters
2 small tomatoes, sliced thinly
2-4 romaine leaves, washed and cut in half width-wise
Hummus
Salt, to taste
Olive oil, for roasting and frying

Roast the sweet potato slices and bell pepper with a little olive oil on a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven (I don't remember how long I left them, no more than 10-15 minutes, flipping them over halfway through).

Meanwhile, fry two chickpea squares at a time in a large skillet with 1/2 tbsp. olive oil, 5-8 minutes, until browned and crispy, flipping halfway through.

To assemble sandwich: take two chickpea squares and slather on some hummus (this is for my love of hummus as much as to make the vegetables stick to it—no mess here!). On top of one square, place 3 slices sweet potato, then a romaine leaf half, then 3-4 tomato slices, then a pepper quarter, then another romaine leaf half, then 3 more sweet potato slices, then another pepper quarter, and finally place the other chickpea square on top, hummus-side down. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but it fits, I promise! Press down gently (don't wanna squish out your vegetables).  Repeat with the remaining chickpea squares, hummus and vegetables.

Makes 2 delicious sandwiches.

6 comments:

  1. ha! you and me both, on the clumsiness and food-becomes-article-of-clothing bit.
    and plus one on the hummus loving too, as a matter of fact. are you my long lost twin?

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  2. Wow! What an interesting idea, it sounds very tasty. Chickpeas are so versatile.

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  3. I've been meaning to try chickpea fries and soccas but this is truly genius. Thanks for the idea!

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  4. Woooo! Chickpeas!
    I get really excited about chickpeas. When I saw your title for this post on my dashboard I couldn't get here fast enough :)

    I'm glad you liked it though! It's funny too, because I really don't like bread - which means I have never liked sandwiches. That was, until I found socca and used that as bread for a sandwich one day. Now I can't get enough of them. Those chickpea fries look so good as well.

    Oh, and just to let you in on a not-so-secret secret, I have a whole draw in my fridge dedicated to different types of hummus.

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  5. I hardly ever eat sandwiches either since going gf but this looks so good and now I'm hungry!

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  6. Wow, what a creative use of the chickpea fries recipe! I never would have thought of making a sandwich with them or pairing them with hummus, but I bet it tasted amazing! Thanks for the link :)

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