Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

For some reason, I have a hard time being creative with lunches that I can take to work with me. I think part of it is laziness and the fact that I don't like to pre-plan the night before. I work downtown and there is so much temptation, why would I want a salad when I can get the biggest slice of veggie pizza you  have ever seen for $3.50??? Unfortunately, I can't live on veggie pizza everyday (I would like to, but my butt says otherwise ;-), so lately I have been making an effort to bring a nutritious, yet delicious lunch. Canned soup just doesn't cut it with me ~ I need something that is tasty, healthy and filling.

I came across a recipe for a chickpea sandwich spread when I first became a vegetarian. I have tinkered with the recipe and it is now one of my favourite lunches. It makes enough to do 3 sandwiches.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

1 19oz can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 stalk of celery, diced
1/4 c onion, diced
3 tbsp mayonnaise (or your favourite vegan mayo substitute)
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp dill pickle, chopped (I didn't have any, so I used relish)
salt & pepper to taste

Put chickpeas into a large mixing bow. Mash them with a potato masher until they are fairly smooth. Some people like chunky salad in their sandwiches, but I much prefer a smoother texture.

Add in all of the other ingredients and mix well. 

....yet another bowl of yumminess that I could eat with a spoon......

This chickpea salad is delicious served on your favourite toasted whole grain bread or with whole wheat crackers. 

This sandwich meets all of my lunchtime criteria: healthy, delicious, filling and satisfying - oh yeah!!

I think this is one of my favourite sandwiches since giving up meat. My other fave would have to be a Subway Veggie Delite - with lots of green olives and honey mustard!! What's your favourite sandwich? How do you keep your lunches interesting and delectable?? I'm always looking for new ideas.

Andrea 



Poached Eggs on Heart-Shaped Toast

I have been up since the crack of dawn because I just couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to do with my new heart-shaped cookie cutters....as soon as I got up, I got straight to work.

Derek had to work late last night and then again this morning, so I thought I would make him a healthy and filling breakfast to start his day off right.

He loves poached eggs, which I have never made before, so I thought I would break out of my comfort zone and give them a try.

How to make poached eggs:
I used the old school method for poached eggs, which is to bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and then crack the eggs into the pot. Leave them to cook for 3 minutes and then remove them from the pot. I found using a spoon with slits worked well, so I could strain as much water as possible off of them. Cooking the eggs for 3 minutes leaves you with a nice, soft yoke. You need to be quick getting them out of the pot because the yokes can become hard pretty quickly.

I decided to serve the poached eggs on heart-shaped toast. I toasted the bread and once it popped, I quickly got to work with my large cookie cutter.

Have you ever seen a cuter piece of toast????

I arranged each piece of toast on the plate and then topped each piece with a poached egg and a sprinkling of pepper. Of course I had to add a side of fruit to round out the breakfast. How delish!

I think it's safe to say that he enjoyed his breakie this morning.

To us, small gestures like this cutesy breakfast are just as good (or better!) than buying over-priced flowers or chocolates for Valentine's Day, wouldn't you agree?? This was a very inexpensive and fun way to do something nice for someone I love. The other bonus is that it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to put together ~ most of us have that amount of time to whip up something healthy and delicious.

Wishing you all a wonderful Saturday,

Andrea