Sandwiches!

Strangely, as an adult, sandwiches aren't something I eat often. 

Or pizza. . .Somehow, just typing this here feels oddly un-American - 

or maybe anti-Italian - neither of which apply to me!

As a child I didn't like peanut butter at all, but when pregnant with my son, I couldn't get enough PB&J's! One every day for lunch. Now, natural peanut butter and jalapeno jelly is great. . .Or some EVOO packed tuna made into crunchy tuna salad with lots of onion and celery.

And pizza. . .homemade with an interesting sauce, cheese, pepperoni and lots of chopped vegetables on a big tortilla is fun and delicious. Back to sandwiches. . .My absolute favorite - is a Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Onion 😋 on really good, healthy bread. Sourdough or my Focaccia or one of my Artisan breads, Mmmm.

These happened in the past couple days.

<———The first: Swiss+American cheese, sourdough bread, tomato, mashed avocado, seedy mustard, peppered deli turkey, onion, brushed generously with EVOO and 'grilled' in my heavy stainless frying pan.

The second, open faced, were on the last piece of the Focaccia I made recently with 1/3 corn flour. I don't think corn flour belongs in Focaccia. . .I'll stick to bread flour, or use rye or buckwheat flour for part of the total.

For these, I toasted the bread, then spread it with EVOO Mayonnaise, added a slice of an heirloom tomato, onion, cilantro and Swiss cheese ———>

Mmmmm. . .SO good, but then, I can't remember a nicely put together Grilled Cheese sandwich that I didn't love 😃

These both happened quickly and took care of the sandwich cravings. . .Lin

Grilled Cheese and Vegetable Sandwich

1 Sandwich Skinny

1 slice American Cheese

finely chopped:

pickle, carrot, onion

1T butter

mayonnise

Fix the sandwich as shown in the first photo, spreading one half with mayonnaise and pressing the cut vegetables into it.  The other side with the cheese.  Put the halves together, butter the top and place the bottom into a heated non-stick pan with melted butter.  Flip when it's sizzling, cover, remove from heat and let the other side 'cook' this way for a couple minutes.  Slice and serve.

What's better than this sandwich made with chopped spicy dill pickles?

MORE pickles to eat with it!!  Sweet and Dill. . .Mmmm. . .Lin

Red and Green Egg Salad

5 jumbo eggs - hard boiled

3 lg. radishes

3 sm. dill pickles

2 lg. finely chopped garlic cloves

3T chopped chives

2T mayonnaise

2T sour cream

Himalayan pink salt

fresh ground black and red pepper

Combine all chopped ingredients in a medium glass bowl.  Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Spread on bread for a sandwich, or serve with bagel chips and raw vegetables. . .Lin

Chive and Garlic Egg Salad

1-2 lg. cloves garlic - minced
2T fresh snipped chives
1T+ horseradish mustard
fresh ground Himalayan pink salt
finely ground black and red pepper
2-4T mayonnaise 
2-4T sweet pickles - finely chopped
6 lg. steamed eggs - peeled and chopped

Combine all in a medium mixing bowl.  Mix well, spread on a good light rye bread, in a pita pocket or serve over a chopped lettuce mix with fresh vegetables.  The garlic makes this a nice, spicy change from regular egg salad. . .Lin

Salad Season

In my house, Salad Season is all year long, just like Soup Season.  This was my great find today, while at our local organic grocery store - this awesome sprouting jar!  A half gallon jar, which is probably overkill since I live alone, but I'm pretty sure that whatever I sprout, I'll eat before they get funky.

I bought 4 seeds for sprouting, my favorite, green lentils - which have a really nice peppery flavor, mung beans, radish and broccoli seeds.  All organic.

Today I'm only using the lentils and mung beans (in the bags) - one part, consisting of a mix of those two, into the jar, followed by three parts warm water.  Always stick with similar sizes, or you'll have some big ones that are rock hard mixed in with little ones that are perfectly sprouted.  The smaller they are, the faster they sprout.

I hope you try these on whole grain bread sandwiches and salads for a great, spring-fresh flavor, vitamins and lots of protein. . .Lin

Garlic Cheddar Egg Salad

1 med. onion – chopped

2-4 dill pickles – chopped

mayonnaise

salt and pepper

1c shredded garlic cheddar cheese

6 jumbo eggs -- hardboiled

Combine onions, pickles, mayo and seasonings. Stir in shredded cheese and chopped eggs. Use for sandwiches, with crackers or on a rice cake. . .Lin

Onion-Curry Egg Salad

6 beautiful, free-range chicken eggs

1 med. onion - chopped

½-1t curry rub or powder

mayonnaise

fresh ground pink Himalayan salt

Put the eggs in a 2qt. pan and cover with cold water. Place over high heat for 7 minutes. By now they should be boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Simmer another 8 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and rinse 2 minutes with cold, cold water. Peel, chop and add the remaining ingredients using just enough mayonnaise to hold everything together. Great for sandwiches or on top of a mount of fresh greens. Makes about 4 servings. . .Lin

Olive Tuna Salad

Say that fast and it sounds more like a statement than a recipe. Yes, 'I love tuna salad!' I'm convinced it stabilizes my scattered brain, whether from a lot of busyness in life or too much sugar the day before. Try it, it works!

¾c grated carrots

¾c chopped celery hearts

1 med sweet onion

4-5 large garlic stuffed olives

10-12.5 oz tuna, drained

1-2T sour cream

1-2T mayonnaise

fresh ground pepper

Put carrots and next 3 chopped vegetables in a medium mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, combine and chill an hour or so to blend the flavors. Great for sandwiches or with crackers, or – add 1-2 cups cooked small pasta for a Tuna Pasta Salad. . .Lin

Sprouting

Seed, bean and grain sprouts contain a high amount of good natural plant protein.  Sprouting jars with instructions as well as seed mixtures can be purchased at your local co-op or health food store or you can combine your own.  Keep the sizes similar since smaller seeds take only a couple days to sprout while bigger grains and beans take twice this long.  Sprouts are wonderful on salads and sandwiches.  If you love fresh crunch in a salad, try sprouting. . .Lin

Turkey & Tomato Grilled Cheese

I'm not a big sandwich person, but it sounded perfect today.  Like anything else we cook - if the ingredients are good quality, the end results will be great.

2  pieces Italian bread

sliced (real) turkey white meat

1  Roma Tomato

1  big slice of your favorite cheese

Spread the inside of the sandwich with mayonnaise.  Add sliced turkey, cheese and tomato (thin sliced onion too, if you want).  Roma tomatoes work best since they are drier than others and will keep the sandwich from being soggy.  Close the sandwich and butter the top side.  Heat a small non-stick pan and add a little dab of butter.  When the butter melts, put the unbuttered side of the sandwich down in the pan.  Cover and let brown for a few minutes.  Flip, re-cover and brown the other side.  Serve with carrot and celery stick, pickles, tomato, cucumber, etc. . .Lin