The best veggie sandwich

Yesterday while shopping at the verduleria I was craving carbs so I decided to sandwich it up with some castiron veggies!

For those of you who don’t have a castiron in the kitchen, I HIGHLY recommend getting one asap, it’ll change your life.

I do just about everything in castiron- veggies, fish, quiche, red beans, steak, tortillas, cornbread and many many more.

It’s fantastic, not only do you develop a crispy crust but you drastically cut back on the amount of oil/butter when cooking.

Bueno, back to the receta

BEST veggie sandwich ::

  • zucchini/ zucchini
  • eggplant/ berenjena
  • onion/ cebolla
  • asparagus/ esparragus
  • yellow pepper/ morron amarillo
  • green onion/ verdeo
  • arugula/ rucula
  • pumpernickel bread/ pan de pumpernickel
  • cream cheese/ queso crema
  • lemon/ limón
  • olive oil/ aceite de oliva
  • salt & pepper/ sal y pimienta

Set the cast iron over high heat and cut the onion into round slices.  Place the onions on the cast iron without any oil/butter .  DON’T move them, get them nice and black flipping once to achieve color on both sides.  Add a couple spoonfuls of water and a dash of salt and pepper and mix until nicely caramelized.  Remove and allow to cool.

Snap off the tough ends to the asparagus and slice them vertically in half (so they lay flat) and toss them in the cast iron with a drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until bright green and remove.  Slice zucchini and eggplant into long thin strips using a mandoline and place in cast iron WITHOUT oil and overcrowding, you want to char it not steam it.  Season with salt & pepper and cook for about a minute on each side, mas o menos.   Repeat with pepper.

You want the veggies to be room temp so don’t worry about keeping everything hot.  Wash and dry the arugula and toast the bread in the cast iron without oil.

The only reason I used cream cheese is because I had some sitting in the fridge leftover from a mascarpoone cheesecake I did over the weekend.  Sadly I have little self control with the stuff so I decided to use it as a condiment with some lemon juice and green onion (and maybe a spoonful of creole mustard).  Yum!  If you want ditch the cream cheese and use mayo, olive oil, or hummus.

Carefully assemble the sandwich and get ready, it’s REALLY good.  Enjoy!

LizaNola