Smoked Almond & Chickpea Salad Sammies

One of my favorite vegetarian sandwich recipes from Thug Kitchen Cookbook (one of my fave vegan/vegetarian cookbooks). This batch make a lot so you can have leftovers for days. The toppings I put on vary based on what I have in the fridge but it’s always delicious. I make a double batch of the smoked almonds so I can snack on them later.

Quick Smoked Almonds (or smoked almonds from store for less prep):

• 2 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce, tamari, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup or other liquid sweetener

• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 3/4 cup raw almonds

Sammies:

• 3 cups cooked chickpeas

• 1 avocado

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• 3/4 cup chopped red onion (about 1/2 medium onion)

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

• 1/3 cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs)

• 1 to 2 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce (my fave is Zatarain’s cajun hot sauce)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Ground pepper to taste

• 8 to 12 slices bread, toasted

• Toppings: pickled red onion, Dijon/whole grain mustard, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, roasted red pepper

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. To make the almonds: Mix together all the liquid ingredients in a small bowl and combine the nutritional yeast, paprika, and garlic powder in a separate bowl. Grab the almonds, add them to the liquid bowl, and stir that together to make sure all the almonds are covered. Scoop out the almonds, add them to the bowl with all the dry seasonings, and stir around until they are covered. When they look all seasoned, scoop them out and lay them on the baking sheet. Toast them in the oven for 10 minutes, stir them around, and then put them back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Take them out and let them cool.

3. Add the chickpeas, avocado, and lemon juice to a big bowl and mash the heck out of them. Some chunks are fine, whatever you like. Fold in the onion, dill, celery, hot sauce, salt, and pepper, then mix it all together.

4. Once the almonds have cooled, chop them up and add them to the bowl.

5. Serve up this filling on some toasted bread with Dijon mustard, lettuce, and tomato. This is best enjoyed the day it’s made; it keeps fine in the fridge but you might lose some of that crunch.