Two days ago I told my husband that I was no longer cooking. Well, no, not really. I told him that I was only going to make sandwiches, salads and soups for dinner because not only were they easier and quick to make but it would be perfect for my digestive system.
As the baby has been growing, my tummy has been pretty high and so acid reflux has been my friend these last couple of weeks. Temperature changes are making me nauseous and so having to find different solutions has somewhat been working.
There have been several mornings after taking a warm shower that I have called out to Ryan to either bring me a banana or granola bar because I was about to get sick in the shower. Imagine that! Munching food inside the shower!! Unheard of....or is it?
Back to lighter foods. Not only has my desire been to make lighter foods but I am just craving more sandwiches. If I could I probably could eat at Chipotle, Subway, or Jimmy John all the time. I will probably loathe sandwiches after I have this baby, hee hee, but in the meantime I have been looking for delicious recipes and thinking of my own creations.
I found a Food Network Kitchens Cookbook in the library and found a recipe for a standard muffuletta. I knew that everything on the list of ingredients sounded perfect except for the mortadella and salami, so I decided to make it a vegetarian sandwich. Ryan made sure he asked for the salami so I made his with it.
It was hard trying to find the right bread specifically for this sandwich so I bought sourdough soup boules. They were not as big as imagined and once you put a weight on the sandwich to flatten it, the bread works perfectly for the recipe. I love sourdough bread, especially from bakeries. I would love to make my own sourdough starter but who has time for that?
The most exciting part of this recipe was the homemade giardiniera . It was not the typical recipe with jalapeños and peppers but it was made more veggie based giardiniera. I modified the recipe, because I always have to. The only thing pickled about the salad were the olives and the banana peppers but the recipe just called for seasoned veggies. I was looking forward trying it.
I have to say that the finished product was VERY delicious! I will definitely be eating and making this again. You can of course use vegan cheese slices, melt Daiya shreds, but I will be adding avocados to this sandwich next time. I had some but they were not ripe yet. :-( I really recommend this recipe! It was a perfect and quick dinner recipe.
If you get a chance, remember to vote for my Veggie Chilaquiles with Mole' Sauce. Polls close on 9/16.
Veggie Muffulettas
makes 4 sandwiches
Olive salad
1/4 cup olive oil
6 Tablespoons water
3 small carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups small cauliflower florets
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup sliced green olives with pimentos, chopped finely
plus 3 Tbsp of olive brine
1/2 cup sliced black olives, chopped finely
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup red onion, chopped finely
1/2 cup banana peppers, chopped finely
3 Tablespoons flat Italian parsley, chopped
Sandwiches
4 sourdough soup boules
8 slices of Meunster cheese or vegan cheese
1 avocado, sliced
Vegenaise or olive oil
For the olive salad:
Put the olive oil, water, carrots, cauliflower, thyme and oregano in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reducing the heat to medium-low, simmering until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the olives, red onion, banana peppers, parsley and salt.
Note: You could hand chop everything or just place the veggies in a food processor and coarsely chop the ingredients.
Assembly:
Slice each boule in half. Take each bottom half and remove some of the inside of the bread to make a pocket. Spread some olive oil or Vegenaise then pack the bottom with the olive salad. Add 4 slices of avocado and layer with 2 cheese slices and top with the bread.
Wrap the muffuletta very tightly with plastic wrap and in place the sandwich in a shallow container and weight it with something heavy, like a cast-iron skillet for 30 minutes, or devour immediately if terribly hungry. ( I did this, but weighed down Ryan's sandwich since he was not home yet)
Cut muffuletta in half or in fours and enjoy!
Labels: banana peppers, black olives, carrots, cauliflower, dinner, giardiniera, green olives, Italian, lunch, muffuletta, olives, sandwich, sourdough bread, vegetarian
