Good leftovers = awesome sandwiches and salads

This one is going to be short and sweet.  I just wanted to express my love for an interesting sandwich.  When you have good leftovers in the fridge, good sandwiches (and wraps, and salads) just happen, naturally.  My dinner wrap tonight:
-Whole wheat tortilla
-Cream cheese
-Leftover grated raw beet and carrot salad that was similar to one I posted (had some cucumbers in it too this time.... can't remember what else)
-Zucchini pickles made according to this recipe, but with half the sugar (I had followed the recipe exactly another time, and found the pickles too sweet).
-Fresh CSA lettuce

My lunch salad earlier:
-Fresh CSA lettuce
-Sweet corn quickly steamed and cut off the cob
-Kohlrabi pickles (love this recipe, have made it a lot)
-Some dill and green onions
-Smoked salmon  -  this is a tasty product from a Colorado company.  There's so many conflicting reports about the sustainability and healthfulness of farmed salmon... from what I can gather, it really depends on the operation.  And usually, the consumer can't really figure much out about the fish farm where the product came from.  Some are better than others in terms of what kind of feed they give the fish (veg/grain based versus fish based - a veg/grain based feed obviously has less impact on fishery depletion), impact on the water body, PCB levels in the final product.  So in the end farmed salmon is not something I'll eat often (and I'll definitely go for a wild-caught Pacific salmon when I can - that one I'm pretty sure is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's good list), but also not something I will completely shun.  This particular company's website does little to make me think they focus much on sustainability when buying their fish, which they then smoke and package.)

Whoops, that was supposed to be short, but I got sucked into thinking about  fishery sustainability and the pros and cons of aquaculture again.

Eggplant dip/spread

I love having lots of different things in the fridge for sandwiches. Yesterday I had a lone eggplant from last week's CSA that needed to get eaten since today (Monday) is when we pick up this week's box. So here's a quick and easy recipe for a dip/spread that is great on sandwiches, and would be just as tasty as a dip for crackers, pita chips, or veggies.

1 medium eggplant (or other size, adjust other ingredients accordingly)
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. pine nuts
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. olive oil
small handful fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse eggplant and put on a hot grill, or in a 35o degree oven. Rotate it every 8 minutes or so, until it's very soft. At least 20-25 min. on a grill, or maybe 50-60 min. in the oven.
2. When it's cool enough to handle, scoop all the insides out of the eggplant into the work bowl of a food processor.
3. Add all the other ingredients, and process till it's smooth!




That's it! If you want this as a dip, you might want to add a little more liquid to make it thinner. Olive oil, yogurt, or tahini could all be used. My sandwich for lunch today was a pita with this eggplant spread, Cabot cheddar (Hunter's extra sharp), avocado, and tomatoes and spinach (which is the tastiest spinach I've ever had) from the CSA. And check out the carrot in the picture - that's from the CSA today - who's ever seen a carrot that's red on the outside and orange on the inside?!