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.
Dip eggplant slices in flour, then egg, then panko.
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.
Toast the bread and slice the tomato.
- Wash and dry spinach.
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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