Moe, for better or worse

This blog used to be called "one year in the life of a short fat runner"; then it was called "Am I a runner? you decide." I've decided running isn't the thing I need to talk about here...it'll come up for sure, but it's just one part of me, so I think I'll just call this blog: Moe, for better or worse.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Anyone need a sandwich?

I love sandwiches. I just do. I'd rather eat a sandwich for breakfast than pancakes or waffles or eggs...esp eggs. I put lots of things on sandwiches, things that maybe seem weird but end up delicious. A recent dinner sandwich was grilled linguica with sauteed broccolini on lovely boule from Fornax. What more could you want? ok, maybe a beer or a nice glass of red, but still, that was a great sandwich!

Summer's here, which means fresh tomato with salt and pepper and mayo. Heaven on a slice of white.

A good sandwich is a balance of bread, meat, cheese, veg and condiments. Too much of anything and it throws the whole thing off.

The biggest mistake made in commercial sandwiches is the bread. Too dense too heavy too thick...just too MUCH. Good bread is essential, but it's still just a vehicle the the fillings.

I like a lot of veggies and a medium amount of meat, if any. I like only a little cheese and often take off some if it's overwhelming the other parts. You can never have too much avocado or lettuce, esp if you're using mixed greens, but they need to stay on the bread...if they're falling out...well, then maybe you can have too much of both. Tomatoes, peppers, cukes, sprouts, asparagus, green beans, all welcome in my sandwich makings list....

Sandwiches are comfort food of the highest order in so many incarnations for me. After spending a summer in Spain in high school, I craved a grilled cheese sandwich made with American cheese...as much as I loved Spain, that sandwich was home...and I was homesick.

Some sandwiches aren't on bread necessarily, but other starchy foods, like tortillas. I made refried black bean quesadillas for supper one night recently that were divine. Simple, straightforward, easy...but oh so good.

I have a favorite lunch time treat...a visit to the Falafel King. He recently moved shops and I had to go find him in his new location...I probably spent as much on gas as I did on the giant falafel sandwich I bought ($3.99, loaded with delicious falafel, tahini sauce, lettuce, tomato and some sort of middle eastern pickles that I love and need to find, on beautiful fresh pita bread); the King knows me now, and always hands me a falafel over the counter dipped in hummus for me to nibble on while he makes my sandwich.

Among us runners (yes, people, I'm calling myself a runner now...get over it), we often joke that someone who is too thin, should eat a sandwich. Honestly, I think the world would be a better place if we all just sat down and ate sandwiches together. It's something we all have in common and we could try to learn from each other, if only by tasting what each of us likes or thinks is good. There's no religion, or politics, or anger, or hate in a sandwich...it's just a bunch of ingredients, layered together in a way that's tasty, filling, satisfying and makes you happy. Sorta makes you think that it would be a good analogy for a nice place to be, huh?

Today's lunch was turkey on multigrain ("oaty-wheaty bread") with avocado, baby greens and mayo. It was pretty darn perfect. :)

4 Comments:

Blogger sauconRunner said...

Tomato sandwiches are one of my favorite things. I eat tons of them w/ jersey tomatoes fresh from my parents garden. I've actually eaten too many at a time and gotten hives!

Falafels make me thing of when I lived in NYC. They were one of my favorite meals. Haven't had one in a while. Need to change that.

July 03, 2008 2:04 PM  
Blogger Rudy Martinez said...

This is a most excellent treatise upon hand-held meals

July 03, 2008 8:19 PM  
Blogger Dog Mom said...

Mmmm sandwiches. I could put an entire tomato thinly sliced on a sandwich and be thrilled.

July 03, 2008 8:48 PM  
Blogger Joe said...

After getting rid of the dry mouth caused by the breathing tube after surgery on Wednesday, they offered me a small, simple turkey sandwich with tomato & romaine lettuce on wheat bread.

Best sandwich I've had in awhile, I tell you :)

July 04, 2008 4:38 PM  

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