Hearty Chickpea Sandwich

Ok, I admit it. I am a total sucker for any TV show related to cooking. If it were up to me, I would watch all day and all night- getting ideas and enjoying/hating/laughing at the hosts depending on who it is. But by far, one of my faves is Top Chef, maybe its because of the horrible voice overs that they had all throughout the first season, or the crazy contestants, or because I like to pretend that someday I might be on it, but either way its endless entertainment.

So being a good fan, when Tom Chollicio opened a sandwich restaurant in San Francisco I had to try it out. And I must say, I was not dissapointed. It is definitely overpriced and pretty ritzy for a sandwich restaurant but the sandwiches at 'wichcraft are fresh, innovative, and filling. This sandwich was inspired by some of the ones that I tried there (thank you work event for letting me try so many!). I love the light, healthy idea of using chickpeas as a filling and as you may know from my previous posts I love sun-dried tomatoes and I can't get enough of goat cheese. I hope you enjoy as much as I did (even my 15 year old brother loved this on a hearty baguette)!

Hearty Chickpea Sandwich

Makes 2 servings

Filling:

½ can chickpeas, smashed
1 ½ green onion chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of ½ large lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
¾ tsp pimenton de vera (or chili powder would be fine)
½ tsp cumin
Few grinds of sea salt

Spread:
3 tbsp goat cheese
2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes (in EVOO rinsed)
½ tbsp water (or more to turn to light pasted)

½ cup salad greens
4 slices whole grain bread (I used Ezekiel sprouted bread)

Place chickpeas in a plastic bag and lightly smash by rolling over a few times with a bottle or can. I tried to get some of them smashed and keep some whole. Place in a medium bowl with chopped green onions.

Combine olive oil through sea salt in a small bowl and whisk together ingredients. Add ½ of mixture to bowl with chickpeas and stir.

Combine ingredients for spread in blender and blend. I like to leave some chunks of the tomatoes for texture, but its really up to you.

Toss salad greens with other half of dressing. Toast bread. Place ½ chickpeas on slice of bread and add greens on top. Spread another piece of bread with the goat cheese spread and place on top of chickpea side. Enjoy!