hummus and artichoke veggie sandwiches.
An easy, veggie-packed sandwich that’s as healthy as it is delicious
Serves: 4 Prep time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes jump to recipe.
Lunchtime is always firmly planted during the busiest time of the day. I know some people who carve out time to cook a full meal, but realistically it’s not feasible for most of us to do that. Having something fast, packable, and filling tends to be the priority, especially for those that don’t work from home.
Sandwiches are a lunchtime classic for this reason. Cold cuts, cheese, and veggies pressed between slices of bread is as easy as it gets and don’t even require a microwave to enjoy. If you do have a stove and an extra five minutes, a grilled cheese and some soup can feel like a lunchtime luxury.
I could go on and on about how important it is to take time to yourself to eat, but honestly, I barely do this myself. Plus, I’m sure you already know that. If you could, you would, right?
Thus, a really solid sandwich serves as a compromise. This one is vegetarian, but not lacking in flavor or fulfillment. Artichokes, hummus, avocado, and cucumber make a creamy, crunchy combo that is fabulous on crusty bread. I love it for days when I need a boost of veggies (like coming home from traveling) and especially for days when I need a quick, heatless lunch.
Oh, and it goes great with soup; a necessary litmus test for any good sandwich.
swapping veggies
There’s a lot of room for creativity here, and I’ve made it a couple different ways myself. Here are a few swaps and additions to make this even better:
Add green goddess dressing (a friend actually named this the Green Goddess Sandwich, but I decided against using that officially, since it didn’t actually have green goddess anything)
More cheese.. mozzarella, halloumi, or cheddar are good options
Add bell pepper or roasted red pepper
Add tomatoes
Swap the hummus for mayonnaise or chipotle mayonnaise
Swap the spinach for kale or lettuce
Add sliced turkey or roast beef
Add pulled chicken or pork
how to make it
As much as I love the cost effectiveness of making hummus from scratch, it is way easier to buy it (and you aren’t really compromising that much in terms of flavor). Find a good hummus you love — I used roasted pine nut, but just about any flavor will work.
Spread the hummus onto bread. In this case, I used ciabatta, but I’ve love this sandwich on baguette, French bread, and even focaccia. Ciabatta is the best for size, shape, and sturdyness.
Slice or chop the artichokes and press them into the hummus. Chopping them small makes this sandwich a little easier to eat. Leaving them large is pretty.
Place the sliced cucumber on the artichokes.
Place the sliced avocado on top of those. I like the texture of sliced avocados better, but I’ve also mashed the avocado for easier eating in to-go settings. Your choice. Avocado slices are slippery.
Sprinkle the feta on top of that.
Press a bunch of spinach onto the sandwich, then add the top piece of bread.
Spear with a toothpick to keep it all together. Alternatively, wrap it in parchment paper.
Enjoy within a day or so. Unfortunately with how brown avocado can get, I recommend eating this sooner than later.
hummus and artichoke veggie sandwich ingredients
hummus: It’s totally okay to use store bought. Chances are, you already have some in your fridge for snacking… just use that. Don’t overthink this. And by the way, flavored hummus works super well here, so be creative about the kind of hummus you choose. I went with toasted pine nut, but roasted red pepper would be delicious, too. Garlic? Yes please.
artichoke: Again, don’t overthink this. Grab a jar of artichoke hearts and use those. They can be whole, halved, quartered -- marinated or unmarinated — they’ll be smushed into a sandwich, so they don’t have to look a certain way. And again, you can finely chop them, too. My advice: don’t try to use fresh artichokes. You’ll have to cook them first, then struggle your way to the heart.. just for a sandwich.
cucumber: Any kind, thinly sliced.
feta: I like this best with crumbled, which adds just a touch of cheese flavor. If you love feta, I’d actually recommend going for a brick of it and using slices. If you hate feta, swap for a different kind of cheese like mozzarella or halloumi.
avocado: Use a very ripe avocado and either slice or mash it. Pro tip, salt it gently for a little extra flavor (most of the sandwich relies on the hummus for flavor).
spinach: I love spinach and think the softer crunch is great here, but you can use any raw green you like. You could cook the green first, if desired, but this sandwich is best with all cold elements.
bread: OK, after having a lot of these sandwiches, I have some opinions on bread. Evan thinks all bread worked fine, but I thought the crustier the bread, the better the sandwich. Now, to his credit, the focaccia tasted awesome. But it fell apart. This sandwich is a lot. You need bread that can handle that. Go for baguette, ciabatta, or anything crusty. If you only have standard white loaf bread, toast it first to make it sturdier.
Building the sandwich. Break the spine of the hearts to lay them flat.
Nestle everything in and press flat as you go. This will make the sandwich easier to eat.
hummus and artichoke veggie sandwich pairing options
Soup and sandwich time! Of course this works with salads, too, but let’s face it: There’s already a salad on the sandwich. Let’s get soupy:
lentil soup: specifically yellow or red lentil soups
minestrone
chicken and wild rice
I highly recommend serving with parchment wrapping to keep all the slippery parts from slipping out.