Chickpea Avocado Bites with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I adore little bites and these filling little appetizers could surely be a meal without any other adornments — at least for me! I don't eat eggs any longer, but the creaminess and taste of this concoction could easily remind one of a deviled egg filling. In this case, I served this on crusty bread. Tart and tangy with a hint of heat, you really could just eat this by the spoonful. It's that good.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup dried chickpeas (2 cups cooked)
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 4 teaspoons rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sriracha or other hot sauce
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

To serve:

• 1 baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• fresh chopped chives
• paprika

Instructions:

• Rinse the chickpeas and soak for 8 hours or overnight in several inches of water. Drain and rinse, then ransfer to a medium saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until tender — 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Drain and transfer to a food processor.
• Meanwhile, soak the sun-dried tomatoes in 1 cup of hot water for 30 to 60 minutes. Drain, reserving the soaking water, and chop.
• Add the sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, vinegar, olive oil, avocado, nutritional yeast, mustard and salt to the food processor. Process until smooth, adding some of the reserved sun-dried tomato soaking water as necessary. You want a smooth and creamy consistency.
• To serve, spoon some of the chickpea avocado mixture onto each piece of bread. Garnish with fresh chopped chives and a sprinkle of paprika. Serve and enjoy.

Makes 15 to 18 appetizers

more recipes @ https://foodandspice.blogspot.com