Monday, January 12, 2009

It's got veggies, that makes it diet food


OH MAH GAWD! This is awesome. And while bread and cheese may not seem like diet food I'm claiming that it is.

2 thick slices of bread (I used Italian that I had leftover from the weekend)
1 onion, sliced thinly
Sugar
Balsamic vinegar
A few leaves of fresh spinach, thinly sliced (I picked a couple of leaves out of a bag that's a little past it's prime. I'm totally not above that.)
1/2 c chopped tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes, but any ripe ones would work well. I find that grape are usually pretty good in the winter.)
4 olives, chopped fine
2 oz goat cheese, put on counter to warm up while cooking (Goat cheese is generally hard to spread, but warming it a little makes it easier.)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Drizzle in a little olive oil and saute onions until slightly brown (about 10-12 minutes). Sprinkle a little bit of sugar and a touch of balsamic vinegar over onions and cook until onions are soft and brown. Remove from heat.
Toast bread until slightly brown. Spread cheese evenly over each slice of bread. Sprinkle spinach, then tomatoes, then olives, and finally caramelized onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Eat immediately. Make Homer Simpson moaning noises as appropriate.

I originally saw this recipe over the summer and was very intrigued. As someone I live with isn't a fan of goat cheese I put it on the back burner. He's gone tonight, so I decided to give it a shot. I had bread leftover so I wanted to do a sandwich instead of a pasta dish. Then I decided not to add the chicken because I wanted to keep it lighter.

I look at recipes for flavor combination I haven't thought of and then find a way to make it work for me. Recipes are never set in stone and the best ones are often people making the best of what they have available. Give it a shot and see what you come up with.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When I first glanced at this, I thought perhaps you'd found a way to make a Bread Salad sandwich.

Which is what I would like to eat for the next three weeks.

This looks delicious. I love it when you start carmelizing onions...it's a very divine phase.