As a Greek family, we grew a lot of chickpeas. Mostly in the form of hummus, but sometimes they were cooked into stews, soups and things like that from time to time. As an adult, however, I am much more adventurous with preparing chickpeas and eat them in a zillion different ways, but this chickpea salad sandwich tops the list for a few reasons. One, because it is LOADED with flavor (which is a problem I’ve had with other recipes for this type of sandwich; more on that later). Two, because it takes less than 20 minutes to prepare, which is great if I’m feeling a little lazy but still want to eat something that tastes really good. And three, because it’s also super good for you and very filling at the same time, so it’s both satisfying AND nutritious (huh!)
When I started making chickpea salad sandwiches I followed some recipes I found on Google and, to be honest, they were cute tasteless. Maybe I’m obsessed with lemon (okay, decidedly), but I put the juice of a whole lemon in this chickpea salad, plus a couple of tablespoons of deliciously salty capers and a little Dijon mustard to create a nice, bright, acidic balance for the creamy chickpeas. There’s also celery + lemon zest for freshness and red onion for a bit of zing and crunch. I also really like using celery with the leaves, as they can be finely chopped and add even more celery flavor to the mix, but using just the stalk is fine if you don’t have one with leaves.
Adjust the consistency of the chickpea salad
As for texture, you can make the chickpea salad as chunky or as mushy as you like, it just depends on how long and thoroughly you mash the chickpeas. I recommend doing it by hand using a old school potato masher, because this way you won’t accidentally crush it and it will only take 4 minutes. But I guess if you Truly If you prefer to do it by hand, you could blend the chickpeas in a food processor for a few beats, then empty them into a bowl and add the other salad ingredients.
FYI, chickpea salad also keeps very well for leftovers, so it’s helpful for meal planning. You could make a big batch of chickpea salad, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and assemble your chickpea salad sandwich as needed for the rest of the week 👍 And if you want more chickpea recipes for meal planning, this salad protein is a great option for you (and it contains lentils!) Enjoy, my friends!!
Sandwich With Chickpea Salad
Sandwich With Chickpea Salad
-
1/3
cup
plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
normal or vegan -
1
table spoon
Dijon mustard -
3.4
teaspoon
salt -
1/2
teaspoon
paprika - Juice of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-
1
celery stalk
with leaves is ideal, finely chopped -
1/4
of a red onion
chopped -
2
spoons
capers
drained -
8
slices
of bread
toasted -
4
spoons
mayonnaise to serve -
8
leaves
of others
removed from the stems and massaged with olive oil -
1/2
cup
thinly sliced red onion
Chickpeas Salad
-
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, salt, paprika, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Set aside.
-
In a large bowl with a flat bottom, add the chickpeas and mash them with a potato masher until the mixture is a little smooth but still coarse. Add the mayonnaise-lemon juice mixture, celery, chopped red onion and capers and stir to combine. If you plan to assemble the sandwiches later, place the chickpea salad in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. It will keep in the fridge for a week.
Assembly
-
To prevent the sandwich from having too much onion (and eliminate onion breath), you can soak the sliced red onion in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
-
Place 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise on one side of each piece of bread. Add a generous spoonful of chickpea salad to one of the bread slices of each sandwich, spread it with a spoon so that it is nice and even. Add some thinly sliced red onion on top and then place the kale leaf on top. Top with a slice of toast, mayonnaise side down, and enjoy!
-
You can make 4 to 6 sandwiches depending on the size of the bread used and how generous you are with the chickpea salad filling.
