Guest Author - Catherine Bridges
Here are just a few examples of greens you can add to sandwiches for zest, spice and a bit of a taste twist. As with any fresh vegetable, be sure to thoroughly wash and dry these greens before adding to any sandwich, salad or dish.
Arugula, Collard Greens, Leaf Lettuce, Savoy, Cabbage,Beet Greens, Curly Endive, Mustard Greens, Sorrel,Belgian Endive, Escarole, Radicchio, Spinach, Bok Choy, Fennel, Red Cabbage, Swiss Chard, Boston Lettuce, Green Cabbage, Watercress, Chinese Cabbage, Kale, Romaine and Red-tip Lettuce.
For a few other interesting and crunchy additions to your sandwiches, try thinly sliced water chestnuts or thin slices of fennel (IF you enjoy the flavor of anise or licorice). A rough and tumble mixture of chopped fennel, vinegar and nut oil with chopped onion and shallot is a terrific relish for meat sandwiches highlighting salmon, turkey and chicken particularly well. Don’t confuse fennel (finocchio in Italy) for anise. They are very similar in flavor, though fennel is lighter, I think. Anise is a different plant that has a different flower, stem, foliage and different seeds.
Here’s a great recipe for nut oil. Use it as a dressing to be tossed through your greens right before you add them to your sandwich.
NUT OIL
1½ cups of your favorite nut (unblanched, shelled and whole)
(Try hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, etc.,)
Place them in a blender and process until chopped fine. Put the blender on SLOW and gradually drizzle in ½ cup vegetable oil (try also grapeseed oil, sesame oil or safflower oil). Once well blended but not too smooth, transfer the mixture to a small saucepan.
Cook the mixture over low heat for about 5 minutes or until it reaches 160 degrees (use a candy thermometer). Stir it often while cooking!
Remove from the heat and cool just a bit.
Mix with 2 cups (more) of the same salad oil you used previously.
Cover tightly and let stand in a cool place out of the sunlight (but not in the refrigerator) for 1 to 2 weeks.
Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Pour mixture through colander and let liquid drain into a bowl. Discard the nut paste or sweeten and use as a spread on sandwiches.
Keep strained liquid/oil in a 1 ½ pint jar covered tightly. Store the jarred oil in the refrigerator, it is good for up to three months. This recipe makes about forty 1-tablespoon servings.
Use about 1 tablespoon over a handful of cleaned greens and toss well.
Enjoy these sandwich green and dressing ideas. Please let me know how you like them and send us YOUR ideas!
NOTES: Try to vary your green intake as each green mentioned above has its own flavor and vitamin/mineral makeup. Also, try to move away from repeated use of iceberg lettuce. This is the most common lettuce as it is used very frequently by all restaurant types and is, usually, the least expensive choice (by size) at most grocery stores. Iceberg lettuce has little or no actual nutritional value and, in fact, its water content can be unhealthy for many diabetics. It also has no fiber content, so don’t be fooled that it aids digestion. Iceberg lettuce has a smooth leaf and is apt to cling to the walls of your digestive tract for long periods of time without being digested or leaving your system. For those of you with IBS, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, gall bladder and other digestive tract sensitivities, iceberg lettuce is an irritation. Keep this in mind as you shop and try to make another green selection in addition to iceberg and you may discover other greens that you and your family will enjoy more!
