I really love hummus, first of all. Garbanzo beans are a great source of vegetarian protein. I was hungry, needed to buy groceries, but proceeded to open the fridge. Hmm, bread. Hmm, fresh spinach. Do I see a sandwich in my future? What will I put on it? I look in the pantry…hmm garbanzo beans? My crystal ball was right! An amazing sandwich was just about to be born! I thought back to my days in Mexico when I would eat at this little cafe right next to the university pretty much every day. This is where I discovered jicama. Jicama (pronounced like HEE-cah-mah) is a sweet root vegetable that looks like a funky round potato but has white flesh similar to the texture of an apple and rutabaga. It’s one of those vegetables that can be made into sweet or savory dishes. Like last weekend, I chopped up jicama and served it in fruit bowls with papaya and pineapple. Today, it found it’s way onto a sandwich inspired by Café del Sol in Guanajauato, MX.

Hummus Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp ancho chili pepper powder
1/2 tsp Mexican chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp extra light tasting olive oil
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp vegan mayonaise, like Nasoya‘s Nayonaise or Vegenaise
2 tbsp tightly packed fresh cilantro, chopped fine

Make Hummus:
Combine all above ingredients into a food processor and process until mostly smooth. I like a few whole or partially whole garbanzo beans in my hummus.

Sandwich Ingredients (for 1 sandwich):
About 1/4 cup Cilantro Lime Chili Pepper Hummus
2 baby sweet peppers (red, yellow or orange), sliced thinly
3-4 thin slices of jicama
4-5 thin slices of avocado
Baby spinach leaves
2 slices whole wheat or multi-grain bread, toasted

Construct the sammich!
On the piece of bread that will be the bottom, spread a generous amount of the hummus, about 1/4 cup (that’s 4 tablespoons). Top with remaining veggies and maybe even put some more hummus on the top slice of bread to hold it all together better. And because it tastes really good. The hummus recipe will make about 2 sandwiches.

The hummus is really good on tortilla chips, celery sticks or pita chips as well!