Creamy Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a nice week and are enjoying your weekend. I just finished my first week of work. I can't say its fun, but its going really well and I'm enjoying it so far.  Being back at work also means packing lunches. I have been scoping my Pinterest pins for perfect lunches for work. I came across Amuse Your Bouche's creamy chickpea salad sandwiches.

What you need:



2 Cans of chickpeas (I only had one in the photo, sowwy!)
1 Cucumber
6 tsp Mayonnaise
Pepper
Garlic powder
Basil
Fresh spinach leaves
Slices of bread

What do to:
Drain the liquid out of the cans of chickpeas and dump them in a big bowl. Chop up the cucumber in small pieces and add them to the chickpeas. Mix in the mayo, pepper, garlic, and basil until everything is evenly coated.



That's it! Just scoop a big spoonful on some bread and add a few spinach leaves.







I was a little skeptical of  trying this at first because I really am not a fan of mayo, but adding in the spices made it a creamy and delicious dressing! I thought that little bit of mayo wouldn't be enough, but it was actually the perfect amount. Every chickpea and cucumber was perfectly coated, and the mayo flavor wasn't super strong.  The only downside is this sandwich was incredibly messy. After about 2 bites, almost all of the chickpeas had fallen out the other side. I ended up taking a handful of the spinach leaves and a few scoops of the salad and mixing them together in a bowl and eating with a fork and some bread on the side.  I am so happy I tried this. I can't wait to make it again!

Do you want to try making this chickpea salad sandwich?

Bye from the Veggie Side!

Adapted from Amuse Your Bouche.

Greek Pasta Salad

Hey everyone, I hope you are all having a great week. After talking over a month off of work to move and get settled in Virginia, I'm finally back.  While it was nice taking so much time off, I was definitely getting bored. Plus, now that I'm living away from home, and buying my own food (oh ya, and paying that pesky rent) I need to make that green (and I don't mean lettuce)!

The weather is getting so hot, and all I have been craving is cold food. Eating a hot bowl of pasta just isn't appealing in this summer heat, but a nice  cool pasta salad, and you have a winner! Plus, pasta salad is a great addition to those many BBQ's I'm sure you are either throwing or attending.  I decided to give my pasta salad a Greek flare.

Adapted from Mele Cotte.

What you need:


1 box of whole wheat pasta
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Feta cheese
Pitted Kalmata olives
Greek dressing

As you can see in the photo, my Greek dressing is in that tupperware under the tomatoes.  I bought a bottle of Greek dressing from the store, and once I got it home, I saw that it had anchovies in it. *Sigh* That's what I get for not checking the ingredients. The dressing I bought is waiting to get returned to the store, and I was left without dressing. Luckily the pasta salad recipe also had a Greek dressing recipe. I threw together what I had in the house and whipped up some dressing.

Adapted from Mele Cotte.

What you need:



1 tsp spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil

All you have to do is mix it all together and you have dressing! I couldn't get over how much I loved this dressing. Its a great universal vinaigrette. I have tried to make vinaigrettes before, but they never turned out right. I think it was the mustard that really gave it the perfect flavor. I will definitely be using the dressing for everything!

What do to:

Start by cooking the pasta according to the instructions on the box.
Once the pasta is all done, put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to chill.
While the pasta is chilling, chop up the veggies and feta cheese.



Then just mix the veggies, cheese, and dressing into the pasta and you're all done!









This pasta salad was great and easy to make. The olives and feta gave it that authentic Greek flavor, while the cucumber and tomatoes made this a fresh summer salad.  The homemade Greek dressing on the pasta was perfection.

I made a huge bowl of this and I'm still enjoying it. I hope I get invited to a BBQ just so I can make this again!

Are you going to try this Greek pasta salad?

Bye from the Veggie Side!

Austin, Texas: Day 1

Hey everyone! I have something special planned for my next few posts.  Last weekend I went to Austin, Texas to visit my brother, David, and my sister-in-law. I really love Austin! I havn't spent much time in the other Texas cities, but from what I know, Austin is completely different than the rest of the state.  While Texas might be full of steak, BBQ, and cowboys, Austin is filled with hippies, art, and vegetarians!  Austin's motto is "Keep Austin Weird." I have heard my brother call it "the blueberry in the cherry pie."  I love seeing my brother and I really love Austin too!

Like me, both David and my sister-in-law, Deborah, are vegetarians.  Luckily Austin is filled with vegetarian restaurants  plus regular restaurants with lots of veggie options! I always knew that I would find something great to eat.  Over my next few posts I will be highlighting the foods I ate white visiting Austin!

The first place we ate after the plane landed was a place called Diner 24.  This wasn't a diner in the regular sense, it was really nice and had lots of great food.



I ordered the veggie burger, which was really good!  It was a beet based burger which gave it that pretty purple color.  It was also filled with flax and pumpkin seeds which gave it a nice bite. It was topped with goat cheese, that when it melted was more like a sauce than a cheese. It was super creamy and tasty.  Last, this burger had roasted tomatoes and basil which gave it an Italian flavor. I opted to have mashed sweet potatoes as my side, which were so amazingly creamy and delicious. This was such a unique veggie burger, it was a nice change from the same ole same ole.

My brother also ended up ordering the veggie burger too, you will notice that is going to be a recurring theme.

For dinner that night we went to place called Kerby Lane.  Again this wasn't a vegetarian restaurant, but it did have lots of options for us to choose from.



Both David and I ordered the Asian tofu sandwich off the specials menu. We both really liked this sandwich.  The tofu itself was a bit bland, as tofu has the tendency to be, but the siracha sauce that was on it gave it a great kick.  This sandwich was then topped with cucumbers and Asian coleslaw which gave it a great flavor.  The creaminess of the coleslaw really went well with the spicy siracha. I paired my sandwich with fresh cut french fries. Yum!

After dinner we got hit with a killer storm that ended up flooding some of the streets, and if even hailed in some areas.  Overall we had a nice first day with some great food.

Have you ever been to Austin?  Would you like to go visit?

Stay tuned for more Austin food posts!

Bye from the Veggie Side!

Couscous Salad

Hello everyone! Today I have a salad that is just perfect for spring!  It combines light and fresh flavors, with couscous, to make you forget you are even eating a salad. Not only is this easy to make, but it is vegan too!