This Mediterranean Sandwich with Chickpea salad with sun dried tomato, tahini and Za’atar makes a delicious vegan lunch sandwich. Soyfree and nutfree. Skip the bread and serve with lettuce cups for Glutenfree! It’s also a great salad for a week-day lunch, picnic, or potluck!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean

Ingredients

For the chickpea salad:

  • 15 ounce can chickpeas drained or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup red bell pepper (chopped)
  • 1/4 cup green onions (chopped)
  • 3 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes (chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons Kalamata Olives (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon dates or raisins (chopped,optional)
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon zatar (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup parsley (chopped)
  • 1/4 cup mint (chopped)

For the dressing:

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons tahini
  • 1-2 tablespoons hot water

For the rest of the salad

  • bread slices (or you can also put the chickpea salad in a wrap or in a bowl to make them gluten-free.)
  • Crispy greens or sliced tomatoes or cucumber as needed.

Method

  1. In a bowl, add the chickpeas. Mash until 3/4 of the chickpeas are mashed. Add red bell pepper, green onions, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, dates, all the spices, salt, parsley, and mint, Mix well
  2. In another bowl, mix the tahini with lemon juice and 1 tablespoon hot water. Mix it until the tahini starts to get light and fluffy. You can add another tablespoon of water if it is getting too thick.
  3. Once the mixture is light and fluffy, add it to the chickpea bowl and mix well. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. If the mixture is dry (depends on the chickpea brand and tahini) add in more tahini and water and mix.
  4. You can let this mixture chill for at least an hour for the flavors to double up.
  5. Then assemble your sandwich. Add some layers of tomatoes or crispy greens. Top with the chickpea salad and another bread and serve.
  6. You can also use the chickpea salad in a wrap or serve it as a part of a bowl to make it gluten-free.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.