Smashed Chickpea, Blue Cheese, & Apple Sandwich

With fall well underway, I’ve been craving heartier meals that incorporate seasonal ingredients like pumpkin and apples. I’ve seen a lot of smashed chickpea or “chickpea salad” sandwiches around the web before and have wanted to try my own version for a while now. I knew I wanted the crunch of apples in there, and because I can’t get enough of the apples-blue cheese combination, I mixed my apples and chickpeas with blue cheese, throwing in some walnuts for more texture, and a quick mustard and apple cider vinaigrette for added flavour. Combined with thick slices of fresh 7 grain whole wheat bread, lettuce, sprouts, and a little extra mustard, this made for a really satisfying sandwich (when my dad saw my lunch one day he asked if I was Dagwood) that I loved!

If I’d wanted it to be more of a chickpea salad sandwich, I could have added mayo, but I don’t ever have mayo around and I liked the flavour of the mixture on its own so I left it out. Without something like mayo to get everything to stick together, the filling is a bit messy in a sandwich, but that’s all part of the fun! You could try adding some if you prefer though, or even use a mixture of mayo and plain Greek yogurt to keep this on the lighter side.

And if blue cheese isn’t your thing, here are a few other chickpea sandwiches you could try!

Smashed chickpea salad from Smitten Kitchen
Smashed chickpea and avocado salad sandwich from Two Peas & Their Pod
Curried chickpea salad sandwich from The Simple Veganista
Cranberry walnut chickpea salad sandwich from The Simple Veganista
Herbed chickpea sandwich (with feta and dill) from Martha Stewart
Smashed chickpea & pesto sandwich from Bake Your Day
Pink chickpea smash salad from Happy Healthy Life

Smashed Chickpea, Blue Cheese, & Apple Sandwich

Recipe my own but inspired by many other versions of smashed chickpeas that others have created!

Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

For the Chickpea Mixture:

1 (540mL) can of no-salt added chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 large apple, cored and diced – any crunchy and sweet variety that you like will work

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 oz crumbled blue cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 shallot, minced

Salt and pepper

For the Sandwiches:

8 slices whole grain bread

Lettuce, and sprouts if desired

Extra mustard if desired (such as Dijon, honey mustard, or deli style mustard)

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, and shallot.  Let sit for at least 5 minutes (I find this takes some of the bite out of the shallots).

Smash chickpeas with a potato masher or large fork; they don’t have to be completely smashed, just partially.  I found it difficult to do with a fork so I pulsed mine several times in a food processor; this is quicker if you don’t mind washing an extra dish!  Mix the apples, walnuts, blue cheese, and parsley into the chickpea mixture.  Mix in the olive oil dressing and season mixture generously with salt and pepper.

Divide chickpea mixture evenly among 4 sandwiches, along with lettuce, sprouts, and extra mustard if desired (I liked these best with added mustard!).  Try to flatten or “smush” the chickpea mixture onto each sandwich so it sticks together.  Even still, these might be messy and I learned that it’s best to hold on to both ends of your sandwich as you’re eating to prevent the filling from falling out!

BBQ Tofu, Bean, Tomato & Corn Salad w/ BBQ Yogurt Dressing

I'm back!

I didn't intend to take such a long absence from this blog, but my summer ended up being entirely taken over by working on my PhD dissertation, and I didn't have time to even go outside many days let alone create and photograph recipes or write blog posts.  Now that I've handed it in (one step down!) I'm hoping to have a little more time for blogging!

Needless to say, most of my meals this summer consisted of quick and easy dishes, which included a lot of salads!

This bbq tofu salad was a little more time consuming because of the steps involved in preparing the tofu (pressing the water out, marinating it, and baking it), but it's worth it!  I follow Oh My Veggies' recipe for baked barbecue tofu which is my favourite way to eat tofu.  She calls it 'tofu for tofu haters' and I agree; I used to think I hated tofu until I tried it this way, so if you think you hate it too, give this a chance!

With the addition of fresh corn, tomatoes, cucumber, black beans, two types of lettuce, and sprouts, this salad has lots of crunch, flavour, and protein.  For the dressing, I whisked together some low-fat plain yogurt with a bit of bbq sauce, apple cider vinegar, and a couple spices for an easy, creamy, and light dressing that complemented the tofu.

And as with most salads, feel free to add in whatever else you like!  Avocado would have been great, I just couldn't find any ripe ones in time; mushrooms would work well too.

I'm hoping to share some of the other easy meals I was enjoying over the summer in a recap post later this week, then I can't believe it's already time to start thinking about fall recipes (which I admit I'm pretty excited about)!

BBQ Tofu, Bean, Tomato & Corn Salad with BBQ Yogurt Dressing

Inspired by Vegetarian Times and Delish Knowledge

Makes about 4 main course servings

Ingredients:

For the Tofu:

1 (12-14oz) package of extra-firm tofu

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

For the Salad:

2 cobs of fresh corn or around 1 cup of thawed frozen corn kernels

1 (540mL) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Half to one cucumber, chopped (I used about 3/4 of one but it depends on its size)

1 ripe avocado, chopped (I couldn’t find a ripe one in time so it’s not included in pictures)

1 red pepper, chopped (I've added this in later versions but it's not pictured here)

1 head of romaine or iceberg lettuce, or your desired greens 

Handful of alfalfa sprouts, if desired

For the Dressing:

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1.5 to 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (start with 1.5 and add more to taste if needed)

Directions:

Prepare baked barbecue tofu following directions from Oh My Veggies (be sure to allow enough time to press the tofu, marinate it, and bake it).

If using fresh corn, cook according to your liking if desired (I boil the cobs of corn in a large pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes, rinse with cold water, then slice off the kernels).  Prepare other salad ingredients.  

Whisk all ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl, taste, and adjust any amounts to your liking. I sometimes add more yogurt or throw some mustard in.  You can add a bit of water to thin it out if necessary.

Toss together all ingredients with the dressing and serve.