Eggless Salad Sammies

I was on my own the other night, so thought I'd whip up some eggless salad for a quick dinner sammie. I used The Happy Herbivore's recipe, following exactly as written this time. Next time I'd go ahead and add seasonings more slowly and just to my taste. Oh wait, one small change I made was in adding a couple dashes of Tabasco sauce. Because that's just how I roll.
The Monster and I enjoyed the rest for lunch the next day on a nice soft alternative grains bakery loaf and it was really great. Personally, I think a softer bread is the way to go with egg salad, be it eggless or eggy. The sprouted rye I ate it on originally was good, but not quite the same.

Eggless Salad:
(The Happy Herbivore)

12 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 Tbs low sodium soy sauce
1 whole celery stalk, minced
1¼ Tbs nutritional yeast (not the same stuff you'd use for baking for goodness sake :-)
1½ Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs relish
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp mild curry powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
½ tsp black salt (add salt judiciously to taste since there's already low sodium soy in this…oh and I just used sea salt)
2 Tbs vegan mayo (I use Spectrum brand lite vegan mayo)

If using firm tofu, press for at least 20 minutes. Give exrta-firm tofu a good squeeze before starting. Crumble tofu into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Let set for a few minutes (this allows the flavor to merge but also enhances the yellow coloring). Stir again. Taste, adjusting spices as necessary. Add black pepper to taste and serve.

Pear, Fontina, and Prosciutto Panini

This is one freakin' awesome sammie, that I just can't believe has not found it's way onto my blog before now! The original recipe is from Cooking Light magazine, but from the very first time I made it I mistakenly bought Fontina cheese in lieu of the Pecornino called for. Let's just say it was a brilliant mistake. I'll link to the original recipe, but since it is after all just a sandwich, will write it up as I make it with no set amounts of anything. Serve a wedge (or two!) of this yummy beast with a simple salad or a small bowl of soup and your sweetie will drool his/her thanks.

Pear, Fontina and Prosciutto Panini:

1-2 firm, ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges per pear (I used 1.5 large Bartlett pears and didn't bother peeling them)
a touch of butter
a smidge of agave nectar (or sugar)
1 fresh loaf of ciabatta bread or focaccia, cut in half horizontally
splashes of balsamic vinegar
baby arugula, or trimmed mature...calls for 1 cup, but i tend to use as much as I can get on the sandwich
slices of Fontina cheese
very thin slices prosciutto (about 4 ounces)
fresh ground black pepper

Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pear to pan, and sprinkle with sugar or agave nectar. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden.

Sprinkle cut sides of bread with vinegar to your taste (orig. recipe calls for 4 tsp). Arrange pear slices, arugula, cheese, and prosciutto evenly over bottom half of bread. Add some freshly ground black pepper and cover with top half of bread. I ended up putting cheese on both sides.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat (I use a grill pan, or if you have a panini machine you can use that of course). Add stuffed loaf to pan. Place a cast-iron or heavy skillet on top of stuffed loaf; press gently to flatten. I use casserole dishes loaded up with all of our silverware. :-)

Cook 4 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted (leave cast-iron skillet on stuffed loaf while it cooks). Cut into nice big slices and mangia!

Mediterranean Tuna Salad Sandwiches on Rosemary Foccacia Bread

I served this great sammie with a simple green salad for our dinner tonight. I think it would be equally good made with chicken in lieu of the tuna fish.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad:

The original recipe from the Whole Foods Cookbook calls for 24 oz of tuna...I scaled the recipe back for us to have dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Just use whatever amount of any of the ingredients you like. It's all subjective to taste anyhow.

* 18 oz chunk light tuna in water, drained well
* the better part of a can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained
* 1/3-1/2 cup chopped roasted red or Piquillo peppers
* ~1/2 cup sliced Greek olives
* ~2-3 Tbs red onion, finely minced
* 2-3 Tbs fresh Italian parsley, minced
* 1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
* 1 large clove garlic, minced
* mayonnaise to your taste (I used about 1/4-1/3 cup)
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, combine the tuna, artichoke hearts, red pepper, olives, onion, parsley, basil, garlic, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and pepper. Mix all the ingredients together well. Serve on bread, atop a green salad or in lettuce cups.


Spelt Focaccia:

This is moist and delicious with a nice tender crumb. Easy peasy too! This from a chickie that has no idea how to make bread. :-)
The original recipe was found on Cook Anything's blog. Check there for much lovelier photos of this foccacia.

300 grams wholegrain spelt flour (sorry...I don't have a cup measure on this)
1 teaspoon Sucanat (or sugar)
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
fresh rosemary
garlic powder
red pepper flakes
grated Parmesan

To make the Topping:
Strip the rosemary from the stalk and place in a small bowl with red pepper flakes to taste, about 1-2 Tbs grated Parm., a shake of garlic powder and fresh ground black pepper. Add about 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil and mix.

To make the Focaccia:
In a large bowl, sift in the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Make a little well in the center and slowly incorporate the water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. You want the mixture to come together and lose most of it's stickiness (but honestly, mine stayed pretty sticky). Transfer to a spelt floured board and knead very briefly (10-20 seconds at most) to form a smooth ball. Place this in an oiled bowl and rub more oil on the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap - leave in a warm place to double in size (took about 30-40 min). Just a quick note...see all those little holes in the surface of the foccacia? Not the dimples, but the wee holes. I think I let it rise a little too long on the sheet before getting it into the oven, but it really didn't make a lick of difference in the quality of the bread. It was way better this time in fact than the last time I made it.

When doubled, place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and using your hands push the dough to form a rough oblong shape (I made more of a rectangle this time, but the oblong is good for dipping in soups). Put this on a tray, dimple the surface with your fingertips then cover the top evenly with the rosemary topping. Place this in a warm place to rise again, covered with plastic for about 30-45 minutes. Make sure the dough is well oiled by the topping before covering with plastic, so it doesn't stick and deflate your dough.

Preheat the oven to 400 - sprinkle the bread with kosher salt and cook for 20-25 minutes (I took mine out at 18 and it was perfect...I spread it out a little thinner than usual though) or until the bread is golden and feels cooked through.

Cool on a wire rack.

If you made a thicker foccacia, you can slice it in half for sammies, or if you made it thinner, just use one layer per side of your sammie. This was so delicious!

Falafel Pitas

Quickie Falafel Dinner

The Monster and I will likely be standing in line for our second vote of the day around our usual dinner time. So rather than getting take-out, I'll be making tasty falafel patties before heading out, so we can slap 'em together in two shakes when we get home.
They reheat pretty well, and a sammie is always fast and easy to put together when pressed for time.

Falafel:
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large egg
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce (I don't necessarily use these proportions for just the 2 of us, so I just mix what we need til it tastes good):
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame-seed paste)
1 garlic clove, minced

Remaining ingredients:
whole wheat pitas, cut in half (I just use whole wheat flatbread instead of trying to cram all the stuff into a pocket which inevitably tears anyway)
curly leaf lettuce leaves
sliced tomato

To prepare falafel, place first 8 ingredients (through chickpeas) in a food processor; process mixture until smooth. Divide mixture into 16 equal portions, and shape each portion into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the patties, and cook 5 minutes on each side or until patties are browned.

To prepare sauce, combine yogurt, lemon juice, tahini, and 1 garlic clove, stirring mixture with a whisk. Warm your pitas if you like, then fill with sauce, a couple patties, tomato and lettuce.

I like to serve with some kind of sauteed veggie on the side...usually sugar snaps, or snow peas. Tonight it's snaps.