Chickpea Avocado Toasts with Roasted Red Peppers

It is coming to my attention that I'm slightly obsessed with open-faced sandwiches.  And why not?  A great toasty base piled so high with goodness that has no guarantee of not squishing out the side if made a sandwich...there's nothing wrong with that!

We are also big fans of dip in this household.  My nickname is the condiment queen.  Some people dip a chip....I dunk, scoop and slather.  Two of our all-time favorite dips are guacamole and hummus.  We make both all the time, and had great success when we brought hummus avocado toasts with oven roasted tomatoes to a party a while back.  So rather than mixing up the guac and hummus separately, I figured I'd save myself some dishes and bring the two together in one delicious dip.

And put it on toast.

We are still munching our way through bagels and naan, so rather than baking fresh french bread, I decided to use our ordinary store-bought sandwich bread.  But just for giggles, let's make them fun shaped sandwich breads.

See?  Fun!

This recipe is literally a marriage between my traditional guacamole and hummus recipes.  Both contain lemon juice and tons of garlic.  I left out the tomatoes typically included in my guacamole as texture is brought in with the smashed chickpeas, and swapped the white pepper I usually use in my hummus for fresh cracked black pepper.  Top it off with roasted red peppers and you have a fabulous open-faced sammy for a snack, lunch or dinner.

Chickpea Avocado Toasts with Roasted Red Peppers (8 toasts)

• 1 can chickpeas, peeled (if desired)
• 1 avocado
• 1 tbs garlic, minced
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp white pepper (we did a bit more)
• salt to taste
• 1 red pepper, roasted & cut into strips
• 8 pieces whole wheat bread 
• mixed greens
• fresh black pepper (optional)

Peel the skins off your chickpeas.  It's more time consuming, but worth it in the end (no skins in your dip)!  Place in a medium bowl and smash with a fork until they are all at least partially squished.  Add the avocado and smash this into the chickpeas.  Then add the garlic, lemon juice, white pepper and salt.  Mix well.  This will keep well for a day in the refrigerator, but will brown slightly.

Turn your broiler onto high.  Using a biscuit round or egg ring, cut the bread into circles (save & freeze the scraps for meatloaf!)    Place bread rounds on a baking sheet and place directly under broiler.  Toast bread lightly, about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the third (but watch them...it really depends on your oven).  Remove and transfer to a plate.  

Lay a few mixed greens on top of each toast round.  Gently spread chickpea avocado mixture over the greens, about 1 1/2 tablespoons per toast.  Top with roasted red pepper strips and fresh cracked pepper. Sun dried tomatoes or feta would be great on top as well.