What would you like to have: sandwich, cutlets or both???…
Need a break from the usual chicken or turkey or beef sandwich? Try this protein-rich and healthy vegetarian sandwich. It’s good to be a vegetarian at least once in a while.
Yesterday, after a heavy Easter lunch, one thing I was damn sure about was skipping dinner. To burn all the calories, in the evening my husband and I went for power walking and running over the Pedestrian bridge. It was such a beautiful evening and we ran and walked for almost 2 hours. We felt really healthy and revitalized. As I had burned some calories, I felt I should have a simple salad for dinner. But, when I entered my kitchen, I couldn’t resist canned cooked chickpeas that were sitting in my pantry and ended up making a cutlet out of chickpeas and spinach. I just blindly added a few ingredients and was pretty impressed by the outcome. I made a sandwich with this cutlet, and also ate a couple of the cutlets just as it is.
I had some leftover mashed potatoes from Saturday’s BBQ party, hence I smeared the sandwich bread with the leftover mashed potatoes. Placed the Chickpea and Spinach Cutlet between the bread and the next thing I did was open my mouth wide and took a huge bite of the sandwich. Tasted delish.
Chickpea-Spinach Sandwich and Cutlets
Ingredients:
- Chickpeas, cooked- 1 1/2 cups
- Garlic cloves- 2
- Fresh spinach leaves- 1 cup
- Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
- Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp (or 1 tsp cumin seeds)
- Paprika- 1 tsp
- Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
- Ground black pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Bread crumbs- 1/2 cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Green onions, chopped- 2 tbsp
Instruction:
- To a food processor, add the chickpeas & other ingredients except green onions. Process to a coarse mixture, don’t make into a smooth paste.
- Transfer the ground mixture to a bowl.
- Add chopped green onions & combine well.
- Taste and adjust the spice and salt according to your needs.
- Make medium-sized patties out of the ground mixture.
- If the patties are very moist, add 1/4 cup more of the bread crumbs.
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat, add some oil for pan frying.
- Place the patties on the pan and cook till both sides turn golden brown. Be gentle while flipping over otherwise it can break apart.
Building the sandwich
- Toast the slices of bread. I used rye bread.
- Smear the slices of bread with mayonnaise. I smeared it with mashed potatoes.
- Place the chickpea and spinach cutlet between the slices of bread, also place a few spinach leaves on the bread, and make into a sandwich.
- Enjoy this healthy sandwich.
Tips:
- Don’t make the chickpea-spinach mixture too moist, add more of the bread crumbs if it’s moist.
- Enjoy the cutlets with tomato ketchup.
- Chickpeas, cooked- 1½ cups
- Garlic cloves- 2
- Fresh spinach leaves- 1 cup
- Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
- Cumin powder- ½ tsp (or 1 tsp cumin seeds)
- Paprika- 1 tsp
- Garam masala- ½ tsp
- Ground black pepper- ¼ tsp
- Bread crumbs- ½ cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Green onions, chopped- 2 tbsp
- To a food processor, add the chickpeas & other ingredients except green onions.
- Grind to a coarse mixture, don't make into a smooth paste.
- Transfer the ground mixture to a bowl.
- Add chopped green onions & combine well.
- Taste and adjust the spice and salt according to your needs.
- Make medium-sized patties out of the ground mixture.
- If the patties are very moist, add ¼ cup more bread crumbs.
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat, add some oil for pan frying.
- Place the patties on the pan and cook till both sides turn golden brown.
- Be gentle while flipping over the patties otherwise it can break apart.
- Transfer to a kitchen paper towel.
- Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce or with tomato ketchup.
- You can also make sandwich with the cutlets.
- Toast the slices of bread. I used rye bread.
- Smear the slices of bread with mayonnaise or any sauce.
- Place the chickpea and spinach cutlet between the slices of bread, also place a few spinach leaves on the bread, and make into a sandwich.
- Enjoy this healthy sandwich.
