The Sandwich that Made it All Better

I know that comfort eating is one of the most unhealthy things we can do in terms of diet and nutrition.  For one, we usually end up eating all the wrong things.  What sounds better than your bests friend's chocolate chip cookies when you've just had the worst day at work?  Ever?

My eating habits since returning from our travels have been weird to say the least.  One day I hardly want to look at food, the next day I can't get enough bread, and then the next, I'm all about the vegetables.

A veritable cornucopia on a plate...

This was one of those vegetable days.  I had been working on a project that was not only super complex, but in a field of work I'm relatively new to, so the mental gymnastics going on for a couple weeks were starting to overwhelm.  I needed comfort food. Lucky for my body, I'd recently discovered a local bakery that makes a fantastic vegetarian sandwich.  I really loved it, so I decided to see if I could recreate it at home.

And as you've probably figured out by now, it was pretty darn easy.  I mean, vegetables.  Look what's in the sandwich and you've got your blueprints.  The only trick was finding a delicious, but not-too-unhealthy, spread to go on the bread.

I finally settled on a combination of homemade pesto-mayonnaise and dijon mustard.  And it hit the spot.  The bakery serves their version on multigrain sandwich bread, but I used a couple different varieties.  I tried a pugliese bread, sliced thick, and a seeded baguette style bread-- both were good, and better suited to a huge pile of vegetables than thin sandwich bread.

The (veggie) Sandwich that Made it All Better
created from taste-bud memory, adapted from the Paradise Veggie Sandwich

Two slices of sturdy bread of your choice
1 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. pesto
1 tsp. dijon or spicy mustard
1/2 large roasted red bell pepper, sliced in 1 inch strips
Cucumber, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch rounds or strips
1 tomato, sliced
dark green lettuce - choose a variety like red-leaf or romaine
thinly sliced red onions
goat cheese crumbles or preferred cheese
fresh ground pepper to taste

To assemble your sandwich, first combine the mayonnaise and pesto in a small bowl and whisk until well blended.  You'll have plenty of this yumminess left over for another sandwich, burger, pita... whatever!

Warm the bread slightly in the oven or toaster, then spread one slice with the pesto mayonnaise to taste.  On the other slice, spread the dijon (You may need more or less, to taste.)

Layer the vegetables on one slice of the bread and top with crumbled goat cheese; then add the pepper if desired.  The warm bread will soften the goat cheese just slightly and it will sort of melt into the vegetables.  Top with the remaining bread slice and bite into heaven.  And you can even feel good about it.