Chickpeas and Avocado. Yum!

I tried this light, easy meal for dinner last night (after mentioning it in this post), and 2/3 of us gave it a thumbs up. My son warmed to it a little at the end too. He tries to pretend he doesn't like avocado, but I think it's partly a show!

I've found two versions of this recipe, one from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com and the one below that I received from the Meatless Monday website, but it came from Jordan's Family of Foodies blog. I really like the taste of smoked paprika in this one.

Chickpeas & Avocado Salad Sandwich

Ingredients

• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 avocado
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 2-4 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• Kosher salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Baby spinach leaves
• 8 slices toasted bread
• Dijon mustard

Directions

1. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans.
2. Add garbanzo beans to hot sauté pan with ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika, tossing to coat beans with spice.
3. Roast beans in pan for 10-15 minutes stirring often, until beans are dry and lightly browned.
4. Prepare avocado. Cut in half, remove pit and with small pairing knife and cut ½ of avocado into thin slices while still in skin.
5. Using spoon remove avocado flesh carefully from first avocado half reserving 4 of the slices to top sandwich.
6. Place all the rest of avocado flesh from both halves on large plate and completely mash with fork.
7. Add 2-3 tbsp of lime juice (this is a loose direction add less or more as needed) to mashed avocado and mix to combine thoroughly.
8. Season with salt and remaining ½ teaspoon smoked paprika.
9. Add diced red onion and chopped cilantro to avocado and stir to combine.
10. Place roasted garbanzo beans over top avocado mixture.
11. Using fork mash some of beans into avocado mixture until mixture is desired texture.
12. Add additional 1 tbsp lime juice depending of how dry the mixture is.
13. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
14. Place ¼ of salad on each slice of bread, followed by desired amount of baby spinach, and avocado slice.
15. Schmear Dijon mustard on top piece of bread and place overtop sandwich.

Action Item: If you're trying to add protein while cutting out meat, look for recipes like this one with chickpeas. Like this Hummus Salad recipe.

For Further Reading: From One Green Planet, Why Chickpeas are a Healthy Eaters Best Friend and The Many Health Benefits of Avocado from Mercola.com.