California Salad Sandwiches

8
Points®
Total Time
13 min
Prep
9 min
Cook
4 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Instead of slathering the sandwiches with mayonnaise, we use flavorful pureed beans. We also streamline the assembly by pan-grilling the sandwiches.

Ingredients

Cooked white beans

1 cup(s), (such as Great Northern or flageolets), or rinsed drained canned white beans

Water

2 Tbsp

Fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp

Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp

Breadsmith Breads Multigrain

8 slice(s)

Low fat Swiss cheese

4 oz, or cheddar cheese, about 8 slices,

Avocado

½ item(s), medium, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced

Alfalfa sprouts

2 cup(s)

Tomato

1 medium, cut into 8 slices

Instructions

  1. Combine the beans, water, and lemon juice in a blender; puree until smooth.
  2. Spread 1 1⁄2 teaspoons of the mustard onto each of 4 bread slices, then spread all 8 slices with a layer of the bean puree. Layer each mustard-spread bread slice in the following order: 1 slice of cheese, 1⁄4 of the avocado slices, 1⁄2 cup alfalfa sprouts, 2 tomato slices, and another cheese slice. Top each sandwich with the remaining (bean-puree-spread) bread slices.
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Lightly spray both sides of each sandwich with nonstick spray, then place in the skillet. Cover and cook, turning once, until the cheese melts and the bread toasts slightly, 4 minutes. Serve at once. Yields 1 sandwich per serving.

Notes

Alfalfa sprouts add lots of crunch and potassium, but they have been identified as a source of bacterial contamination in rare cases. The sprouts may become infected with bacteria from runoff from pasture land and, since the sprouts are eaten raw, any harmful bacteria present are not killed by cooking. Therefore, be sure to wash the sprouts well before you use them: Soak them in a large quantity of water and shake dry. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and people whose immune systems are compromised should avoid alfalfa sprouts altogether; for them, lettuce is a better choice for this sandwich.