Samiches

Sandwiches have never been an exciting food choice for me. Growing up we’d have some generic cold cuts and maybe some rubbery American cheese to slap between two slices of plain old split top wheat bread. Then came the era of sub shops. Subway was first. The Spicy Italian topped the list for quite some time. Not the healthiest but definitely the tastiest. Yum. For a short time they offered a turkey bacon sandwich with guacamole and strips of tortilla chips doused with southwest sauce. Oh it was amazing. And then they took it off the menu. Subway would never be the same. Then I found Blimpies. Oh how I miss Blimpies and their cheese trio. This thing had three types of, get this, real cheese! Can you believe it? No mystery ingredient processed blend, nothing but good old-fashioned real cheese! The best part is, they don’t play around with it, you get slice after slice after slice, a true “stack” of cheese. None of this slice the cheese in half to make it span the 6” length. And, to makes things even better, Blimpies uses kosher pickles. I’m drooling at the thought. Subway could never match up. Not in a million years. Especially with that rubbery crap they try to pass off as cheese. Then the king of all kings came into being. Jimmy Johns makes THE best sandwiches on the planet. The best. (The best being the best of chain sandwich shops.) The ingredients are actually fresh AND ripe. The bread rivals bakery bread. The meats are sliced freshly off the cow or pig. Okay, that was gross. Forget that thought. I’ll never eat meat again. The beach club with its turkey, avocado, cucumber, sprouts and mayo beats any spicy Italian any day. And I don’t know what they do with their mayo. It’s like heaven on earth. The Tuna ain’t half bad either.

Lately I’ve discovered independent cafes. Specifically speaking Birchwood Café. Try this on for size:

Tempeh with sun-dried tomato hummus & kalamata tapenade on toasted focaccia, cucumber, carrot, dragsmith microgreens & lemon oregano vinaigrette. Jimmy John’s who?

So Dan and I starting making our own gourmet sandwiches. It’s to the point where we always have onions, vine ripened tomatoes, fancy cheeses and meats on hand. Every so often we get crazy and buy a bunch of specialty veggies and breads as shown in the photo above. My version consisted of provolone and swiss cheeses, roasted red pepper, sprouts, grilled onions, kosher pickles, cucumbers, vine-ripened tomatoes, cracked pepper and balsamic vinegar and oil on fresh focaccia bread.