“You’re crazy.”
Those were the encouraging words that came out of Eric’s mouth when I told him I was hoping to post 20 times this month for Vegan Mofo. [Here is my first introductory post + recipe in case you missed it.]
“Twenty TIMES?”
“Yeah………………………………….so?”
He is right, it is crazy, but I’ve always liked a good challenge. For those of you who don’t know, Vegan Mofo encourages participating bloggers to post each day for the month of September, or at least aim for 20 posts (5 posts a week). I haven’t posted that frequently since I was knee high to a grasshopper!
My normal blog posts usually take me a few days each from start to finish, so I may need a miracle to make this 20 posts in a month thing happen. Or at least, a good streak of recipe testing. Dream big or go home, right? There’s no crying in baseball! err…blogging.
If all goes according to plan you will likely see much more of me this month. How much more is yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure; I am super excited for this month’s theme! I can’t promise I’ll crank out 20 posts, but I will do my best to make you sick of me by the end of the month.
My second recipe for Vegan Mofo is one that I couldn’t wait to share. I’m going to try to hold back the drool while I talk about it. Just be glad this isn’t a video recipe or things could get weird.
I don’t think I’ve ever made a better sandwich than this, vegan or not. Normally, I don’t post sandwich recipes on the blog because I think they are slap together meals, but this…I just had to share.
I often make toasted sandwiches with hummus, avocado, and tomato – they never fail – but this time I wanted to kick things up a few notches with a homemade nut-free pesto. The 4 layers are made up of hummus (I went with Tribe roasted garlic – so obsessed with it right now), avocado, tomato, and homemade Sun-dried Tomato, Hemp, Basil Pesto. Dear lord. Oh, and some red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper, and sea salt because we’re living on the edge. The only thing I would change next time is to add lettuce for a little crunch – I totally forgot the lettuce while sitting on the ground lining up toasted bread slices to photograph. Priorities?
This is serious business, this sandwich creation.
The homemade pesto commands the taste bud’s attention with its tangy, flavourful ingredients – sun-dried tomatoes, lemon, basil, garlic – oh yea! It’s a new fav. Thanks to the hemp seeds it’s nut-free and higher in protein to boot. I actually created this recipe last year, but since I’m not including it in the cookbook anymore I get to share it with you early. Also worth noting – dipping carrot sticks into this pesto is a tasty way to make carrot sticks exciting. Or, the pesto makes enough for 4 sandwiches (2 tbsp per sandwich) or 1 epic, sandwich-of-your-dreams (1/2 cup pesto)…your call. One thing is for sure, you have to make this as soon as possible.
[PS – red pepper flakes are the new party confetti.]
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Ultimate 4-Layer Vegan Sandwich
Yield
4 sandwiches
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Toasted sprouted grain bread is slathered with hummus and homemade sun-dried tomato hemp pesto all topped off with sliced avocado, tomato, and red pepper flakes. This is one vegan sandwich that you won't soon forget! Add some lettuce for a nice crunch. This would also be fantastic in a wrap if you don't want to use toasted bread. For a gluten-free option, use gluten-free bread (or wrap) or try serving it wrapped in Bibb lettuce for a grain-free option.
Ingredients
For the Sun-dried Tomato Hemp Basil Pesto: (makes 1/2 cup)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (about 6)
- 1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1-2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the sandwich:
- sprouted-grain bread (or wraps or Bibb lettuce)
- 2 tablespoons hummus
- 2 tablespoons Sun-dried Tomato Hemp Basil Pesto (from above)
- 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
- 1-2 thin tomato slices
- lettuce
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- pinch of salt & pepper
Directions
- For the pesto: Mince garlic in a food processor. Add the rest of the pesto ingredients and process until the pesto is smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Toast the bread in a toaster.
- Spread bread with hummus and pesto (one on each). Layer on the avocado, tomato, and lettuce. Sprinkle on red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Slice in half and enjoy!
Tip:
Note: I use Food for Life Ezekiel sprouted grain bread.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
This sandwich looks right up my alley. I love your roasted tomato pesto and am so excited you shared the new pesto with us!
I am excited that you are doing Vegan MoFo, it’ll be great to have more posts/recipes from you.
Looks SO yummy! Can you suggest a possible sub for the hemp seeds–the grocery stores in my town have yet to carry them?
You can probably sub with any nuts of your choice – almonds or walnuts would be nice!
Wow looks great!! Curious how many hours start to finish does it usually take you to do one post (photos included)? You make the process look so easy!
One of the only things I miss from my meat eating days is sandwiches. I feel like it can be difficult to throw together a tasty, filling vegan sandwich. But this looks awesome! I love all the ingredients AND i love that it’s not boring old veggies. Can’t wait to try this!
You can DO it girl!! Also, this sandwich looks perfect, a little bit of everything!
wow this looks super yummy…you always make me drool over my system whenever i open your blog..I wish i am your neighbor..that way i get to taste all of your heavenly healthy
vegan dishes :-))….good luck on your challenge….i love your blog and those pretty pics
This sandwich sounds amazing! Love the pesto!
I could eat this all day everyday!
That hummus looks and sounds sensational!!! LOVE hemp seeds! Absolutely gorgeous..what’s your fave bread to use? I might have missed it above knowing me!
This looks delicious. I will definitely try this. I’ve only been vegan(ok, part-time vegan, please don’t hate me) for a short time now, but am really struggling to find nice lunch alternatives.
Thank you for sharing this and good luck with your challenge!
Sophie
I would never hate on anyone for being a part-time vegan…every choice makes a positive impact! Good for you. :)
I adore pesto and hummus together. Adding fresh avo and tomato to the mix sounds like heaven! Your hemp pesto looks mighty tasty :)
A good sandwich sounds incredible right now. Especially with hummus, and especially with pesto. I would probably also add tempeh bacon (my absolute favorite lately). Yum!
Oh my this looks amazing! I am not a huge hummus fan but the idea of combining it with pesto may just covert me. Thanks for posting!
This looks incredible! Especially the pesto, making that ASAP!
Absolutely making this!
uh, YUM.
and yes…red pepper flakes ARE the new party confetti :)
And now, I’m reading for my snack! Thanks for the delicious recipe, Angela :)
I love this sandwich. I make a similiar kind of thing quite often. I even like it for breakfast sometimes. The more red pepper flakes the better.
On an unrelated note and I apologize if you have already mentioned this in your blog, but is your husband vegan too? Mine is not. For the most part my husband is very cool with the plant-based foods that I make for us and our kids. But every now and then he makes comments about how the vegan diet is not entirely satisfying him. He is free to make and eat whatever he wants, but I won’t cook meat and do not love it around the house to be honest. How do you handle this or is yours a fully veg household?
Hi Laura, Eric is not totally vegan, but he eats vegan a lot of the time. If he wants to prepare meat (which is very rare because he hates to cook!) he will do so for himself and chooses organic meat from a local farm. Since he doesn’t like to cook, he mostly just eats what I make so it works out. Plus, meat is expensive. It was difficult in the beginning though when he wouldn’t eat a wide variety of foods. We ended up preparing a lot of different meals during that time. Luckily the meals have grown on him. :) I think it’s important to allow him to feel free to eat what he wants and just lead by example and wow him with good food.
Thank you, that makes sense.
What a beautiful post! I Love the nut free pesto. Good luck with you blogging challenge!
I love the tomato/avocado/hummus combination, adding pesto sounds like a great way to take it to a new level! I’ll have to try the pesto soon :)