Roasted Red Pepper on Mini-Bagel Sandwiches

These adorable mini bagels are great as an appetizer or as an on-the-go lunch. Several companies make mini bagels (Thomas' etc.), but every variety I looked at contained honey or sugar. The mini bagels from Trader Joe's are a great alternative - they do contain brown sugar, but an employee there who is vegan told me she eats them, so that was good enough for me.

Let 1 cup (8 ounces) of vegan cream cheese (such as Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese) soften, then combine it with 1/4 cup minced green onions, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. black pepper and 2 minced garlic cloves.

Meanwhile, cut 12 mini bagels in half and toast them. If you don't have a toaster oven, a good alternative is to set the oven to Broil and broil them for a minute or two on each side, on baking sheets.

Drain, rinse, and chop 1 (12-ounce) bottle of roasted red bell peppers - you'll have just under 2 cups of chopped peppers as a result.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread the top half of each bagel with about 4 teaspoons of the 'cream cheese' spread. Arrange the chopped red bell peppers evenly on the bottom halves of the bagels - about 2 heaping tablespoon-fuls per bagel bottom - then top with the bagel tops. Cut each bagel in half. (As you can see from my photo, I actually did this upside down - the red peppers on the tops and the 'cream cheese' on the bottoms - but the sandwiches still tasted the same!)

One half bagel is 70 calories, so you'll have 24 mini servings.

Cost:
vegan cream cheese $2.29
green onions $0.98
mini bagels $4.58
bottled roasted red bell peppers $5.99