Tangy Lemon Smashed Chickpea Salad

A smashed chickpea salad sandwich coming up!
Last night I had cooked up a pot of chickpeas, drained them and put them in the fridge. I had no immediate plans but figured I’d use them in a soup or stew sometime in the next few days. But then lunchtime rolled around and I was getting a hankering for some good eats. Ages ago, I had bookmarked a chickpea sandwich recipe on Smitten Kitchen and when I gave it a look over, any questions about what to eat were solved. A smashed chickpea salad sandwich coming up!

The recipe is really a cinch to prepare and it’s got a serious case of tangy with all that lemon and caper business going on. But it’s also got some creamy mayo in there too to help smooth things out a little. The original recipe calls for olive oil instead of mayo but I was all out because I only get my olive oil from Tosi & Co, the oldest Italian market in Chinatown and the shop been closed for about a week now. It makes me nervous to think about it and I’m crossing my fingers that it opens again soon! But I loved how much that dollop of mayo did for this salad. I added in capers instead of black olives, though I think that would be a great choice too. But the biggest bonus for me is the juice of a whole lemon. I used a rather juicy lemon and I loved the super lemony sucker punch it gave, but feel free to tone it down to just a half lemon if you’ve got timid taste buds.

I made sandwiches for me and Cornelius on rye toast and I couldn’t get enough, so I made another. This is a bit of a drippy sandwich, so I even licked my plate. I have no manners, but I sure can appreciate a good sandwich. Yeah, this is the good stuff. So good, next time, I’ll forget about the bread and just eat it as is, salad-style. Alone. And happy.