Asparagus, Arugula, and Goat Cheese on Millet Toast

It's spring! I dressed the asparagus and arugula with some shallots, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Finger Sandwiches

A few lady friends came over for tea and as usual I went a little overboard. I made some classic British sandwiches: cucumber and butter, egg salad with watercress, roast beef with horseradish creme, curried chicken salad with mango chutney, and salmon and cream cheese.

Whole-grain Mustard, Rabbit Rillettes, and Peach on Walnut Toast

Tomatoes and Chevre with Blistered Padron Peppers

It's time for late summer produce, which means the dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes are back! I can guarantee that I will be eating this for lunch almost every day for the next month.

Finocchiona, Ricotta, Caramelized Fennel and Olives

It's National Sandwich Month, so I thought I'd use a few of the things in my fridge to make one for lunch today. Finocchiona is one of my favorite salumi, made with fennel seed, so I caramelized some fennel to go with it, added some chopped olives and a little ricotta to temper the saltiness of the meat.

Open Faced Goat Cheese, Roasted Tomato and Arugula Sandwiches

Lamb Burgers

For these, I mixed ground lamb with finely chopped red onion, fresh Greek oregano, ground cumin, and salt and pepper. I served them with mint chutney, feta cheese, and chopped olives, on rosemary focaccia.

Beet Burgers!

When I was in Austin a couple months ago I had an amazing veggie burger at 24 that was made with beets, lentils, and brown rice. I found this recipe on the Kitchn that looked similar, and with a couple of small modifications I think it came out great! Here's how I made mine (warning- lots of prep work is involved). I used chickpea flour so that the burgers would also be gluten-free.

1/2 cup cooked brown rice (you should overcook it so it's very soft)
1 onion, diced very fine
3 large red beets, also chopped very fine (you could use a food processor for this)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 C cooked lentils, slightly mashed
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 Tbs ground coriander seed
1/2 C chickpea flour
salt and pepper
olive oil

Sautee the onions with a little olive oil until translucent. Add the beets, garlic, and coriander and season with salt and pepper. Once the beets have softened (shouldn't take long since they are chopped so fine), add the mixture to the rice and lentils in a large bowl. Check for seasoning and add the lemon juice and chickpea flour to help bind the mixture together. Form into patties.

When you are ready to serve the burgers, heat olive oil in a very hot pan and cook the patties until browned and crisp on one side before flipping (about 2 minutes per side). The patties may fall apart a bit in the pan, but you can just push them back together with a spatula and once they are cooked they should hold together pretty well. If you have time, form the patties ahead and regfrigerate for an hour or two before cooking them- this will make them hold together much better.

Serve with roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, and arugula lightly dressed in lemon juice. I think the burgers eat best on a softer bun, since they are relatively fragile- a harder roll will squash them and make for a messier meal.

Pistachio Mortadella and French Mustard on Seeded Wheat, aka Bologna Sandwich

Beet and Goat Cheese Bruschetta and Salad with Asparagus, Fennel, Arugula and Toasted Almonds

My favorite salad dressing these days is a little Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and some finely chopped shallot. Super healthy and super yummy! The beets were dressed in red wine vinegar, capers, sliced spring onion, and chervil.

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Bruschetta, Beet Salad

Bruschetta is the perfect vehicle for almost any salad. Inspired by this recipe, I dressed the shaved asparagus with some finely sliced shallots, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Beet salad recipe here.

Broccoli Manchego Melts on Seeded Wheat Bread

Elk and Cheddar Melts with Piper's Pickles

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Piper whipped up this tomato soup for us after a couple of hours of romping in the snow; I made some grilled cheese using her beautiful homemade bread to go with it. (Bourbon hot chocolate not pictured.) What a perfect snow day lunch!

Manchego, French Mustard, and Homemade Pickles

Manchego and Greens

This is my favorite bocadillo at César in Berkeley. I made it with some flowering mustard greens I found at the market.

Chicken, Avocado and Cream Cheese

I know this sounds weird (or boring, or both), but I think it's a great and subtle sandwich. The creamy avocado and the tangy cream cheese mix together really well, especially on soft, fresh bread. I stole the idea years ago from a favorite sandwich shop in downtown Oakland- they add bacon, and I admit that adds some more interesting flavors, but I am usually too lazy to fry some up for my own purposes.

Egg Mayonnaise with Pea Shoots

When I lived in London I had a weakness for the egg mayonnaise sandwiches that were sold in the train station. Served on a soft roll, they were filled with sliced, hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes, and smeared with mayonnaise. I have always been a fan of traditional egg salad but there is something great about eating the egg sliced instead of chopped and mixed with the mayo. I had these wonderfully sweet pea shoots from the market and I thought they'd go well with egg, but this would also be good with watercress or baby lettuces.

Thanksgiving Sandwich

It has to be sourdough bread. And don't skip the mayonnaise. There is something magical about the way cranberry sauce and mayo combine, topped with stuffing and sliced turkey. This is my favorite sandwich in the world. If I could choose my dying meal, it would be a Thanksgiving sandwich with corn pudding on the side, and a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert.

P'tit Basque and Honeycrisp Apples with Dijon Mustard on Walnut Levain