Smashed chickpeas are tossed with bright and fresh collard greens pesto, and spread on whole grain toast with mustard, tomatoes and onions to make these satisfying collard green pesto chickpea salad sandwiches.
8sliceswhole grain bread(or gluten-free if needed)
1small red onionthinly sliced
1cupcherry tomatoessliced (or use other type of tomatoes)
2cupsbean sprouts
mustard and/or other condiments of choice
Instructions
For the collard greens pesto smashed chickpeas:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove the stems from the collard greens and tear them into smaller pieces (the exact size isn't important). Also, prepare a separate bowl of ice-cold water. Once the water is boiling, add the collard green leans to the pot and stir. Cook for 2 and a half minutes, stirring once or twice. Pour the pan into a strainer, or remove the collard greens with a slotted spoon, and then plunge them into the ice water.
Either spread out the collard greens somewhere in a single layer to dry if you have time to wait; or squeeze the liquid out of them with your hands. Add them to a food processor along with the avocado, and blend as smooth as you can.
Add the salt and lemon juice and blend to combine. Finally, add the basil leaves and pulse until the basil is finely chopped but not completely pureed. Season to taste with more salt and lemon juice.
Take the chickpeas and lightly mash about half of them. Alternately, leave them whole if you'd like to just eat this in salad form. Or mash all of them if you prefer! Fold in the collard green pesto and taste for seasoning one last time.
To assemble the collard green pesto chickpea salad sandwiches:
Toast the bread, if desired, and add condiments of choice to the bread. Spread about 1/4 of the pesto chickpea mixture on each sandwich and top with sprouts, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and any other desired toppings.