Tomato and Basil Sandwich

Tomato and Basil Sandwich

Recipe from bowlofdelicious.com

It might be surprising, since my family has so many plants and we live on a farm, that we don’t usually grow herbs inside. We have tons of other plants inside, like bananas and succulents, and of course, we have a few herbs growing in our greenhouse. We don’t really focus on them as much as we do on our fruits and vegetables, like our strawberry plants or fruit trees. This is mainly because when we use herbs and similar items, we usually don’t need a lot of fresh ones. Instead, we use the dried ones stored in our pantry from previous harvests.

This is also because, aside from PB&J’s, we don’t typically eat a variety of sandwiches often. But when I do make a different type of sandwich, I really like to add a bunch of veggies on top, because I can, and because we have a lot of vegetables in our garden. We have everything from lettuce to green onions and cucumbers, even though they’re not a vegetable technically. At least not botanically. There is actually a difference in how you categorize fruits and vegetables based on whether they’re for cooking or botanically, especially with items like peas, beans, and bell peppers. You would probably consider those vegetables if you were cooking with them; you’d put them in a stir-fry or in a salad, that kind of thing. But botanically speaking, bell peppers are a fruit, and so are cucumbers and tomatoes, technically even peas are a fruit as well as a legume. Which makes it kind of funny to think about, if you think about it in a botanical sense, because when you think about it that way, we have a lot of things you wouldn’t think you’d have as a fruit. Tomato soup is essentially a fruit purée that we warm up and eat. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I love tomato soup. It’s one of my favorite soups, along with miso soup. It’s just interesting.

Many sandwiches include tomatoes, peppers, and sometimes cucumber. It depends on the sandwich, though we even have these things on pizza too, something which isn’t entirely unknown to have fruit on it as well (for example, pineapple on pizza). It is also something you don’t inherently think of as having fruit on it. I very much enjoyed writing about this comparison. It’s something that interests me so much, and I also really enjoyed it because I got to write it with a brand-new baby duck on my lap! Her name is Trixie Hale, and she is only three days old as I’m writing this. She is a mix of Peking (mom) and Runner (dad) ducks, and she is just the sweetest little duck.

I hope you enjoy the sandwiches and the discussion about botany versus cooking. I hope you have a very good day. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread (I like sourdough, but you can use any type you want)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half
• 1/2 of a tomato
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves
• 2-3 thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 teaspoons of balsamic glaze (you can leave it out if you don’t have it)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Toast the bread. As soon as it comes out of the toaster, drizzle each piece evenly with the olive oil on one side and rub the cut side of the garlic clove over the oil.
• Add the tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella to one side of the sandwich.
• Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the balsamic glaze.
• Place the other piece of bread on top (oiled side facing in), and cut in half.