Between the Bread

Some people believe everything is better with bacon, or salt, or both. Bacon isn't my indulgence of choice, but my betrothed is quite fond of bacon and salt bagels. On a recent morning after, he boldly combined the two.
Take one toasted salt bagel with cream cheese and tomato, add a few strips of oven-cooked bacon, and you have a delicious salty breakfast to cure your ills. Would you eat it?

I suspected I would like pickled okra, but I had no idea I'd go crazy for it. I recently bought a jar to make Cajun Bloody Marys, and I'm hooked. If you like pickles and spicy stuff, I highly recommend pickled okra, which has a velvety texture and none of the usual sliminess.

But isn't this a blog about sandwiches? Why, yes! Keep reading for details on this weekend improv.

It's bread end week on Between the Bread! First, Lizzy shared her triple-decker solution, and now Andrew, who normally shuns the bread ends, presents this open-face invention.

Using what we had in the fridge, he laid out some multigrain bread ends, ham, and leftover roasted zucchini, then melted Swiss cheese over the top and dusted the delight with salt and pepper. Doesn't it look delicious?

Last weekend, I decided to bake, a very rare occurrence for me: banana walnut muffins designed to fight PMS! Though they definitely tasted healthy, they were yummy enough to put me in a good mood, moist and flavorful.

Of course I couldn't resist making at least one of them into a whoopie pie-inspired muffin sandwich, slicing it across the middle and icing it with fromage blanc from Cowgirl Creamery. How cute is that?

I love exploring the preprepared food universe at Trader Joe's, and I've been hankering for a good meatloaf sandwich. I never liked meatloaf as a kid. Actually, I don't think many people did, which is ironic considering its reputation as a family favorite.

But now, I'm strangely drawn to it, especially on sandwiches. This Italian turkey meatloaf was slathered in red sauce and full of seasonings. Delicious on its own, but even better in a sandwich with soft goat cheese and greens on some thickly sliced Acme bread.

See more photos of my weekend improv.

Anyone who thinks veggie burgers are for wussies hasn't tried one of my favorite weekend improvs: the veggie burger patty melt. We cook Gardenburgers or Dr. Praeger's California burgers in the broiler, at the end adding whatever decadent cheese we happen to have in the fridge and melting it over the patty to serve on toasted bread.

This time, Andrew constructed a decadent melt with expensive, very blue cheese, plus heirloom tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and dijon mustard. I had a bite, resulting in serious sandwich envy.

One of my favorite food-related things to do on weekends — besides try new sandwich shops — is improvise new sammies using whatever's in my fridge. This weekend the pickings were slim, but I had heirloom tomatoes and my usual assortment of exciting condiments.

This improv combines tomatoes with olive tapenade from Trader Joe's, romaine lettuce, and mozzarella cheese. I popped it in a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese and toast the yummy, slightly sweet wheat bread from Beckmann's. When tomatoes are this perfect, simplicity is a virtue.