Have you ever opened your refrigerator to make a sandwich, looked dully at the contents, closed it again, opened it, closed it – and found that the cycle just went on and on? Nothing looks appealing. It’s the same old stuff all the time: turkey, ham, some bland cheese. No wonder we can’t find anything to eat – we’re in a rut! So I came up with three sandwiches to get excited about: a toasted peanut butter and jelly (the toasting changes everything!); an eggplant, spinach and tomato sandwich on country bread with a little Vegenaise; and a pear and bacon sandwich with fromage blanc and cinnamon. Fromage blanc is a French version of Greek yogurt, that is a little thicker than a yogurt, very tangy, and easily spreadable. All it takes is a little forward planning at the grocery to have a few of these ingredients in the kitchen. The rest is simple.
If you haven’t eaten Vegenaise, a vegetarian version of mayonnaise, I recommend it highly. It has the same consistency as mayo, but tastes better – very fresh and a bit lemony. I was skeptical about it at first, because some vegetarian foods need a lot of extra help to get to “tasty.” That’s not the case with Vegenaise – it’s a great condiment to use instead of mayo in sandwiches and salads, and it’s gluten free, egg-free, preservative-free, and non-GMO – in other words, much healthier than mayo.
The eggplant, spinach, and tomato sandwich is a vegetarian variation on a BLT, and the pear and bacon sandwich on fruit-and-nut bread is bursting with a great combination of flavors.
So climb out of the rut with me, and change your whole day with a delicious, flavorful, different sandwich. I hope you love it!
Serves: 1
Prep time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 pieces of white bread
- 1 tablespoon of your favorite jelly or jam
- 2 tablespoons of your favorite peanut butter
- a bit of butter to spread on the bread before toasting
Directions
- Spread some softened butter on the outside of each piece of bread.
- Spread peanut butter on the insides of both pieces of bread and then spread jelly on top of the peanut butter.
- Put the two pieces of bread together, and place in a frying pan at medium heat with a lid on top to melt the peanut butter and jelly together.
- Once bread is browned (3 or 4 minutes), flip and toast other side of bread until both sides are golden brown.
- The insides will be gooey and beginning to run out of the sandwich.
- Serve immediately.
Serves: 2
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 pieces of country bread or pain de champagne
- 1 small eggplant, sliced into ½ thick slices
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach
- 1 large tomato, sliced
- 1 tablespoon Vegenaise
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- ½ cup flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions
- Slice eggplant and salt it.
- Allow it to sit for twenty minutes and towel off any moisture that has risen on the eggplant.
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Dip eggplant slices in flour, then egg, then panko.
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Heat olive oil in a large frying pan to medium heat.
- Place eggplant into pan and fry until golden brown on each side (about 4 minutes).
- Place cooked eggplant on paper towels to drain.
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Toast the bread and slice the tomato.
- Wash and dry spinach.
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Assemble sandwich: spread vegenaise on bread, then spinach, tomato and eggplant.
- Top with other piece of bread, cut in half and serve.
Serves: 1
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bread with fruit and nuts
- 1 tablespoon fromage blanc
- 4 strips bacon, cooked
- 3 slices of ripe pear, patted dry of juices
- Sprinkle of cinnamon
Directions
- Cook bacon and drain on paper towel.
- Slice pear into ½ inch slices.
- Toast bread and spread with fromage blanc. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.
- Add pear and bacon, and top with other slice of bread.
- Cut in two and serve.
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