Broccoli and Chickpea Sandwiches

This is not your usual sandwich. Think of a salad with a Greek flair piled into a pita or Naan bread and you fold it up and carefully try to eat it without wearing it. Good luck (and sorry).

This “sandwich” filling is SO good and it’s really the highlight of the recipe. The combination of chickpeas, broccoli, feta cheese, and olives in a lemon dressing is really out of this world delicious. In fact, I had some leftovers (but no Naan) so I decided to throw tortellini into the mix and it was equally tasty. Look at that, two recipes in one blog post today. Okay, full disclosure, my husband also ate a container of the leftover filling by adding nothing more than a spoon and his mouth. So maybe three recipes, sort of? 🙂

I love all the bright colors going on here and there’s something about the zingy lemon dressing that’s got me feeling that winter is in the rear view mirror now. It’s still cold enough here in CT that I’m wearing my winter coat when I head out in the morning, but I’m totally feeling Spring vibes with this meal!

Broccoli and Chickpea Sandwiches Recipe
(Makes about 4 sandwiches)

Ingredients for the Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
sprinkling of red pepper flakes (depending on how hot you want it)

Ingredients for the Sandwich:

2 heads of fresh broccoli
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
handful of grape tomatoes, each sliced in half
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled or chopped
handful of chopped Kalamata olives
1 avocado, shell and pit removed
4 mini Naan slices or pita (I used Stonefire mini naan.)

Directions for the Dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and set the dressing aside.

Directions for the Sandwich:

Cut the broccoli heads off of the stems and cut them into bite size pieces. You can eat the broccoli raw but I prefer mine cooked so that it’s tender. I steamed the broccoli (without using a steamer), drained it and added it to a big bowl.
To the bowl of broccoli, add the chickpeas, sliced tomatoes, chopped onion, crumbled feta cheese, and Kalamata olives.
Pour in the dressing and mix everything together. Set this aside.
In a small bowl, mash the avocado and sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste.
Warm the slices of bread in the microwave or toaster oven.
Spread a little bit of the mashed avocado on the bread.
Pour the broccoli and chickpea mixture on top of the avocado.
Enjoy! (Not optional.)

Adapted from: Cookie and Kate