Chickpea sandwiches are one of my favorite things to make. They’re so simple, delicious and you can do so many different things with them.

While I normally craft them from whatever leftovers I have sitting in my fridge or pantry I wanted to share three of my favorite combos with you today. (AKA tweak these however you want).

Sweet and Spicy Chickpea Sandwich

+ 1/2 cup of chickpeas

+ 2 T dijon mustard

+ 2 T sriracha

+ salt and pepper to taste

+ 2 slices of toasted bread

+ jam/jelly

I got the inspiration for this one from a local vegetarian cafe here in Des Moines. The trick to this one is to put your favorite jam/jelly on both slices of your toasted bread. Then make your chickpea spread spicy by adding dijon mustard and sriracha (or something comparable), as well as a bit of salt and pepper to your chickpeas, heating them up and smashing them till they’re broken up but not complete mush. Put it all together and enjoy!

Spiced Chickpea Sandwich

+ 1/2 cup of chickpeas

+ 1 T dijon

+ 1 T sriracha

+ 1 T veggie broth

+ 1 T nutritional yeast

+ 1 tsp curry powder

+ 1 tsp chili powder

+ 2 T diced jalapeños

+ 2 T diced onion

+ salt and pepper to taste

+ 2 slices of toasted bread

+ romaine, spinach or kale

+ 1 sliced tomato

I normally make my chickpea spread with quite a few spices and sauces, but you can use whatever you have in your cabinet that you like. I also use sriracha and dijon to give it flavor and help smooth it out.

Add your spices and sauces to chickpeas, heat them, smash them, and then add onions. Top with some sort of greens (romaine, spinach or kale) and tomatoes. I like the crunch that romaine or kale gives the sandwich.

Chickpea and Red Cabbage/Pickled Beet Sandwich

+ 1/2 cup of chickpeas

+ 1 T dijon

+ 1 T sriracha

+ few tsps of favorite spices

+ 2 slices of toasted bread

+ 1/4 cup of pickled red cabbage and/or pickled beets

Make the spiced chickpea spread the same as the previous recipe, but the key here is topping it with pickled red cabbage or pickled beets. Trust me.

And there you have it. As you can see I’m not one for structured recipes, but I wanted to give you an idea of some of the ways I like to play around with chickpeas in my sandwiches.

And while I made all these recipes to make one sandwich, I usually double it and make two sandwiches.

Some chickpea nutritional facts for you (per 1 cup):

+ 268 calories

+ 14.5 grams of protein (1/4 of my daily protein need)

+ 12.5 grams of fiber (almost 1/2 my daily need)

+ minerals — calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium

+ vitamins — K, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B5 (pantothenic acid) B6, B9 (folate).

I wanted to share a bit of this nutritional stuff to show you how easy it is to get a variety of those different things you need day to day as a vegan/vegetarian. People always wonder, "What do you eat?" and "Where do you get your protein and calcium??" Well, one place is chickpeas. Yum!