Red, White, and Green Sandwiches

Sometimes I feel like having breakfast for dinner. That's when scrambled tempeh or tofu or a vegan omelette seems just right. And sometimes I feel like having lunch for dinner. On those occasions, The Great American Untuna Salad has often been my go-to choice. So when I came across the recipe for Spinach Buns in my new McDougall cookbook, that sounded like a nice, simple, lunch-like dinner I might be able to add in to the rotation.

But I didn't have any whole wheat buns, and including some lovely roasted red bell peppers sounded like that might be good, too. So what I came up with is a sort of sandwich homage to Italy on toasted Squirrely bread, which held up quite nicely to the somewhat wet ingredients. After all, what could be more Italian than roasted red bell peppers, spinach, and garbanzo beans? And the fact that the colors sort of happen to match those in the Italian flag, couldn't be a mere coincidence, could it?


Ingredients:

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 10-oz bag washed baby spinach
1 jar roasted red bell peppers, packed in water and drained
8 slices Squirrely Bread, or any hearty whole wheat bread

Directions:

Place the first four ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Place the vinegar in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the spinach and stir for another minute. Season with pepper and cook for another few minutes.

Toast the bread and generously spread some of the garbanzo mixture on 1 slice. Layer the spinach and red pepper on top, and cover with another slice of bread. Makes 4 sandwiches.