Food that’s good for you may be all the rage, but finding a healthy sandwich can be a challenge. “Healthy” often turns out to mean something closer to “less unhealthy.” Fancy cheese trumps cheap meat. Roast turkey beats fried chicken. Two limp lettuce leaves are better than none at all. 

We have everything to gain here. Sandwiches can be ­infinitely healthier and tastier—especially if we take ­inspiration from an ancient cuisine based on freshness and variety, not meat and fat: Middle Eastern cooking. Hummus has achieved world fame by now, and all the delicious additions that make a smooth chickpea spread work just as well with other ­ingredients. For a simple variant, try avocado. Mash the flesh of two or three ripe fruits. Mix with 2 tablespoons each of lemon juice and ­tahini, plus a crushed garlic clove if you like. Add salt and pepper and chopped fresh herbs—mint, parsley or cilantro—to your heart’s content. Add olive oil to achieve the desired level of creaminess.

Only slightly more complicated and at least as tasty is ­pumpkin hummus. Peel a small pumpkin, cut it up and boil it with a ­little salt until done. Mash it into a purée, and follow the ­recipe above starting with the lemon juice. For classic hummus, of course, use cooked garbanzo beans. Hummus is delicious with all kinds of bread, from pita to ciabatta. | Elbrich Fennema

Photo: Pieter de Swart