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Recipe Sun Sep 09 2007
My Favorite Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich
I strolled out for a cup of coffee and a short walk to break from my Sunday afternoon reading. I came home hungry with a juicy orange tomato and an orange pepper from a farmers market I'd forgotten was going on a few blocks away. It's this kind of simple, comfortable and social going to market that inspired me to help start a program to encourage more walk-down-the-street food shopping. With slices from a loaf of multigrain, arugula and onion sprouts from a different farmers market yesterday, I toasted the perfect peanut butter treat. I used a lovely 7.5" cast iron pan I bought for a few dollars from a sidewalk sale earlier this summer. In the mouth, the peanut butter feels thick and substantial, balanced by the tomato's light juices and scrubbed clean from arugula and multigrain. The mushrooms give an earthy frangrance, and the onion sprouts leave the essence of an onion. Here's the recipe - just a few minutes of work.
My Favorite Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich Recipe
2 slices of your favorite bread
Plenty of natural peanut butter
3 to 4 slices of a juicy tomato
3 to 4 slices of a mild pepper
4 to 5 brown button mushrooms, thinly sliced
Handful of arugula (or your favorite salad green)
Pinch of onion sprouts (if you're lucky enough to find them)
Olive oil for the pan
Sauté sliced mushrooms in a small, hot pan with a few drops of oil and a few dashes of salt. Keep heat on medium and stir often. Meanwhile, generously spread peanut butter on the inside of each bread slice. Stack the slices of tomato and pepper on the inside of one piece of bread. When the mushrooms are tender, lay their steaming pieces on the sandwich, followed with arugula and onion sprouts. Put the pan you used for the mushrooms on medium heat. Don't rinse it off. Any leftover oil will help. Top the sandwich with the second slice of bread and carefully put it on the pan. Compress it to make flavors combine by laying a grill press on top - or use the bottom of another pan if you don't have a press. Toast until each side is nicely brown, flipping once. Slice on the diagonal and eat up.
Illinois Master Gardener / September 11, 2007 3:53 AM
That looks and sounds delish and I don't like peanut butter!