Three Different Chickpea Sandwich Recipes

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!

Searching for Nutrition + Supplements For Your Cycle

Three great books on this topic:

The two I reach for most often — 

+ The Period Repair Manual, for women with things like irregular cycles, PMS, etc. “Natural treatment for better hormones and better periods"

+ Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition “self-care for improved cycles and fertility, naturally"

Where I point women with more serious menstrual issues like PCOS and Endometriosis — 

+ WomanCode “Perfect your cycle, amplify your fertility, supercharge your sex drive and become a power source” 

It was through these books that I knew I needed to start better supporting my progesterone. And I knew I could do it through food and a few supplements. 

Whenever women reach out with some sort of menstrual issue I always point them towards one of these books. One day I hope it will be within my wheelhouse to offer dietary and medical advice, but for now I feel completely confident and comfortable with my ability to point women towards different resources that will give them the information they need. 

If you’re experiencing an issue with your menstrual cycle I always suggest first digging into your diet. What are you eating? You’d be surprised to realize that even when you think you’re eating what you should be, there are certain things that could be causing your woes. Things like dairy, sugar, processed and packaged foods. 

So before you go looking for some pill to swallow to rid you of all your problems, make sure you have a solid foundation full of nutritious vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, seeds. 

And then maybe you realize you need a little extra assistance from a few, well thought out, supplements. This doesn’t mean you can let go of the focus on your diet. Nope, that needs to be and should be a lifestyle change. I went vegan almost exactly four years ago and I have been continuously learning about nutrition and improving my diet ever since. 

A book that I’m currently working my way through that I’m enjoying is The Kind Mama. It’s all about vegan nutrition, fertility, pregnancy, birth and having some cute kiddos. I think the information in this book surrounding vegan fertility is valuable to any female vegan looking to boost her menstrual cycle. And not in a “I’m ready to start popping out the babies!” sort of way. But you should reach for supercharged fertility even when you’re trying not to get pregnant because you want your body to be in its best shape possible. 

So, with a continued focus on diet and nutrition you can move into looking at possible supplements. And while there will be countless supplements that could help, you'll want to narrow it down to just a few. Which are going to have the biggest impact? Offer the most potential? 

You want to make sure you’re getting quality supplements, and in a form that your body can best absorb. This requires a bit of research but I enjoy that aspect of it. 

And if you don’t feel comfortable making these decisions yourself you can find a local naturopath near you to aid you along the way. Because sometimes there are issues we can’t figure out how to heal by ourselves. And that’s OK. 

A Fresh Juice Recipe For Each Phase of Your Menstrual Cycle

Now, I’m not promoting juice fasts, but I love making juices and thought it would be fun to look into creating a recipe to support each phase of your cycle. Obviously you can just choose to each any of these veggies and fruits fresh if you don’t feel like juicing them!

And remember fresh juice is best, not bottled juice or stuff that was juiced hours, or days ago. And if you don’t have a juicer feel free to whip up a smoothie based on these recipes as well!

Menstrual Phase Juice

My goals — nourish, rest + renew

Veggies: beet, kale

Fruits: blackberry, blueberry, grape, watermelon

I love beet, kale and watermelon, which I think would be a great combo for a juice. And I like to balance out my veggies and fruits so it’s not to sweet and not too “earthy”. 

+ 2 beets

+ 4 - 6 sticks of kale

+ 2 - 3 cups of watermelon (I find that the easiest way to juice watermelon is to just toss it in a blender and pour that through a strainer)

Follicular Phase Juice

My goals — reenergize + motivate

Veggies: carrot, parsley

Fruits: grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange, pomegranate

Carrots are one of my favorite veggies to juice! I think a great combo would be carrot, orange and then lemon or lime (depending on if you have a preference). 

+ 4 - 6 carrots

+ 2 - 4 oranges

+ 1 lemon or lime

Ovulatory Phase Juice

My goals — outgoing, stamina + motivation

Veggies: chard, spinach, tomato

Fruits: cantaloupe, coconut, raspberry, strawberry

I’m not a fan of chard, but if you are throw it in there! I think a great combo would be spinach, tomato, cantaloupe and strawberry. 

+ 2 handfuls of spinach

+ 4 tomatoes 

+ 1/2 cantaloupe

+ 2 handfuls of strawberries

Luteal Phase Juice

My goals — slow down, let go, + calm down

Veggies: celery, cucumber, ginger

Fruits: apple, peach, pear

I love love love ginger, and apples in juices. But I’m not a fan of celery. A great combo would be cucumber, ginger, apple. 

+ 2 cucumbers

+ “thumb” sized portion of ginger

+ 4 apples

+ 4 stalks of celery (if you’re into that)

I don’t know about you, but I’m drooling just thinking of these. I’m going to go whip up a carrot, apple, ginger juice because that’s what I have sitting in my fridge right now. 

What are your favorite juice recipes? 

Hormonal Birth Control + Nutrition

We hear all of the time about the importance of nutrition. To make sure we are getting enough vitamins and minerals. To eat a diet of whole foods, i.e. fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans, legumes, etc.

But what if I were to tell you that your hormonal birth control could really be screwing with how well your body is able to absorb the nutrients? 

Because it does. 

It messes with our bodies ability to function at it’s best level of health. One way it does this is by creating vitamin deficiencies and keeps our body from properly absorbing key nutrients .

Below is a list of nutrients disturbed by hormonal birth control. Just take a moment to scroll through before continuing to read. 

— vitamin A

— vitamin B1

— vitamin B2

— vitamin B6

— vitamin B9

— vitamin B12

— vitamin C

— Biotin

— Bioflavonoids

— Vitamin E

— vitamin K

— Iron

— Calcium

— Magnesium

— Potassium

— Selenium

— Copper

— Zinc

— Prostaglandins

— Blood Lipids

— Serum Proteins 

Holy cow, right?

But if that isn’t enough to worry you, let’s take a minute to go through a few of those and what role they play. [I pulled all these facts from “The Pill” and “Sweetening The Pill”]

So, your B vitamins, folic acid, iron and magnesium are all vital for neurological and emotional health. 

When you have reduced vitamin B1 it can leave you feeling fatigued, weak, with insomnia, vague aches and pains, weight loss, depression, irritability, lack of initiative, constipation, oversensitivity to noise, loss of appetite or sugar cravings, and circulatory problems. And that’s only one vitamin.

When your vitamin B2 is lowered it can lead to gum and mouth infections, dizziness, depression, eye irritation, skin problems and dandruff. If you’ve ever listened to me talk about my experience you may have heard me mention how I got eight cavities in my first year on the pill. 

And the list goes on and on and on when it comes to hormonal birth control messing with your nutrients. If you’re still interested I urge you to go look up the roles these nutrients play in every aspect of your health and well-being, and then sit there and think about the fact that we’re screwing around with all of them. 

I heard it mentioned once that we view health as an outward appearance. “Oh, she looks really healthy.” But why are we trading that off for what’s going on inside of our body. It can only be a matter of time before this catches up with us. 

No matter how healthy and diligent you are with what you’re eating, it almost doesn’t matter because you aren unable to absorb it all when you’re on hormonal birth control. 

But food is a vital part of the process of healing when you make that decision to quit hormonal birth control. Remember that.