Last week I decided to make a Persian inspired dish in honor of the people of Iran fighting and dying for freedom. I say Persian inspired because I used Panko instead of regular bread crumbs, not traditional in Iranian cooking but I love them so much!  I’ve had several meals cooked for me by my friend’s Iranian mother before, but I still did some research before planning my meal.  Oh man was it worth it!  First we had Salad-e shirazi, a salad of tomato, cucumber and red onion with lime juice and mint.  I remember being told this is a favorite summertime dish and I can see why.  I didn’t go as traditional as making my own flat bread either, instead getting some pita at the store.  I made my favorite hummus recipe, and then came the kebabs.  Talk about flavorful!  These are Kabab Kubideh, which can be made with beef or lamb, I used beef since we’re trying out some ground beef from a local farm and I really wanted to use it in a recipe where the beef flavor shines through.  The secret to these kebabs… Read more

My favorite fast food is sandwiches, real, fresh sandwiches. I realized that the reason I love these sandwiches so much is the fresh ingredients, and that I can so easily make my own at home if I just keep some on hand! I used to not make sandwiches very often because I only had lunchmeat and cheese and bread, not exciting. But now I always have fresh veggies around, so I am eating a lot more sandwiches and loving it. I keep them healthy (mustard not mayo, very thinly sliced cheese, lots of veggies) and I did the math yesterday and realized I also keep them cheap. We buy our lunch meat and Tillamook cheddar in bulk at Sam’s Club. Each sandwich I make uses only $0.20 total of meat and cheese. I get my avocados when they’re on sale, so the half of a large avocado I used cost only 55 cents. Factor in the cost of the other ingredients and the total comes out to only 98 cents! Beat that Subway!

The key to making your sandwich affordable and still tasty is in the vegetables. Eric loves to pile on lots of meat and cheese, honestly it gets a little to heavy for me that way. When I make sandwiches “my” way, Eric says they’re amazing and how much he loves them. I don’t know if he even realizes I simply use less meat/cheese and add vegetables. You may prefer using a specialty roll or bread, but keep in mind that will drive up the cost. I like really green lettuce on my sandwiches, it has more flavor. This sandwich (my absolute favorite) is turkey, cheddar, bacon, avocado, tomato and lettuce. Other great veggies are bell peppers, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, and cabbage.

Turkey, Bacon, and Avocado Sandwich

serves 2

Ingredients

4 slices sandwich bread

mustard

10 slices of turkey lunchmeat (if deli style 4 if thicker cut)

2 slices cooked bacon

2 thin slices of cheddar

1 avocado sliced thinly

1 roma tomato sliced thinly

lots of green leafy lettuce

Instructions

Toast the bread lightly. Spread one side of each slice with mustard. Lay half of the cheese on each of two slices of bread. Top each with half an avocado, fanning the slices out. Top the avocado with half the tomato slices, lettuce and then half the turkey. Place other slice of bread on top and press down lightly. Cut in half to serve.

Eric is responsible for the naming of the sandwich. I brought his to him, and my wonderful husband made my day by saying “Whoa, this sandwich is epic!” This sandwich is similar to my cranberry bliss bars, in that Starbucks in Hawaii had a delicious oven toasted turkey pesto sandwich that I’ve been craving and wanted to create myself. Their sandwich was basically two slices of foccocia, pesto, turkey, tomatoes and a white cheese. I decided to add onions because they’re good! The white cheese I used was fresh mozzarella and the focaccia I made from a box that was on sale for $1 at Safeway. Woo-hoo! I love the discontinued shelf.

This sandwich is really pretty simple but tastes amazing. First spread each slice of bread with a pesto. I’ve been perfectly satisfied with those little $.50 pesto packets you mix with oil and water, this time I made my own and just left out nuts because I didn’t have any. It was still really good. Then pile on turkey lunchmeat, sauteed red onion, fresh tomato slices, and slices of fresh mozarella. Top with the other slice of bread and toast for a few minutes in a hot oven until the cheese is just melting.

Oh yeah, I think the one thing that would have made the sandwich better would be if I had made the bread right. I just read that the box said to spread it out on a baking sheet. So I used a normal sized baking sheet. But the dimensions they listed were for a cake pan sized. If I had done it in a cake pan it would have been double the thickness. I think I would have liked it better cut in half than like I made it. But Eric absolutely didn’t care. He just loved it!

Yum, Yum, Yum! I’m not really a sandwich person. I usually feel like they have too much bread for my taste. But I wasn’t sure what to make for dinner and had some yummy roasted garlic bread to use up. So I decided to combine some of my favorite food ingredients with our turkey lunchmeat to make a sandwich I thought I’d like. It worked so well I made another to bring for lunch the next day.

Eric really loved this. He’s a sandwich fan and was so excited. It was delicious on the roasted garlic bread, but also great on toasted sandwich bread. If you want it heated all the way through you could put it in the oven. You could also use a George Foreman grill instead of the stove, but I didn’t want to get it out of the back of the cupboard. I also made Herb Potato Wedges and mixed ketchup and mustard for dipping them. I made the wedges first and by the time the sandwiches were done, they were ready.

Turkey Sandwich with Balsamic Peppers, Onions and Feta

Ingredients

6 inches of an artisan bread loaf cut lengthwise into 4 slices (makes 2 sandwiches)
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1/4 red onion thinly sliced
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 TBS olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
crumbled feta
sliced turkey lunchmeat
thinly sliced roma tomatoes
dijon mustard
butter

Instructions

Sautee peppers, onions and garlic in olive oil until starting to soften. Add balsamic vinegar and continue cooking on low for another minute or two.

Use the crusty parts of the bread for the top slices of your sandwiches. Butter the underside of the bottom slice. Top with some of the pepper/onion mixture. Sprinkle on crumbled feta, pressing into place. Layer on turkey and tomato slices. Spread mustard on underside of top slice and place on sandwich.

Heat a skillet on medium high and place sandwich (buttered side down) in the skillet. Use the bottom of another skillet or pot to press down on the top of the sandwich. Press it several times for about 3 minutes until bottom is nicely toasted.

Herb Potato Wedges

Ingredients

2 red potatoes
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp italian seasoning

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut each potato in half and then cut each half into 5-7 wedges. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat well. Sprinkle with garlic powder and italian seasoning.

Spread out on a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.