When I was employed at my kids’ elementary & middle schools, I worked with a wonderful woman who became a great friend along with being a co-worker and eventually my supervisor. Her nickname for me was Mother Earth. It stemmed from my interest in science and preserving the Earth. I would frequently take things that she was throwing away to recycle or reuse them. Yes, I would take items right out of the trash can. Good thing for me that classroom trash is usually paper!
Some things never change. I would say that I am an even bigger advocate for the Earth now than I was when I worked with Krista. I subscribe to a blog call Earth911. It’s all about things we can do to protect the Earth, like Reducing, Reusing & Recycling to the extreme! In a recent edition of their WTFriday newsletter, the feature article was called Garden with Garbage. Being an avid gardener, I was immediately intrigued. According to the article, you can regrow new vegetables from the parts of vegetables that most people either compost or throw away. Some of the produce, like ginger, pineapple and garlic, I knew about and have actually done in the past. But I hadn’t known that you could regrow onions from the root end or romaine lettuce and celery from the base of the stalks. Having a romaine salad for lunch 5 days a week, I had plenty of romaine hearts to experiment with, so I did. And it worked! I now have 7 romaine plants growing in the garden which I plan to start using for our salads and for this vegetarian sandwich.
Romaine hearts growing. Left dish is 2 days old, right dish is 4 days old and center back dish is 6 days old. After about a week of growing, they go into some soil.
Apple Cheddar Sandwich (adapted from Recipes from The Kitchn)
Makes 4 sandwiches
- 1 French baguette
- Whole grain mustard
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Romaine lettuce
- 2 hard, tart apples very thinly sliced
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from one lemon)
- caramelized onion & roasted garlic jam (See my post Jammin’ for Nick for this recipe)
Slice the baguette into four sections and slice the sections in half length-wise. Spread a little whole grain mustard on both halves. Smear a layer of onion jam on the bottom half.
Spread the mustard then the onion jam on the roll.
Toss the apple slices in a little lemon juice, and then add them to the sandwich. Add a few leaves of lettuce and then top with a layer of cheese. Press the sandwich closed.
Layer on the apple slices and romaine lettuce or your favorite type of lettuce. Slabs of really good cheddar go on top of the lettuce.
If the sandwiches are not going to be eaten right away, wrap the sandwiches in a tight layer of wax paper or plastic wrap. Keep them in a cool place until you’re ready to eat them. They’ll be okay left unrefrigerated for several hours.
Very satisfying!
These sandwiches are anything BUT boring! ~Linda
Apple Cheddar Sandwich (adapted from Recipes from The Kitchn)
Makes 4 sandwiches
- 1 French baguette
- Whole grain mustard
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Romaine lettuce
- 2 hard, tart apples very thinly sliced
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from one lemon)
- caramelized onion & roasted garlic jam (See my post Jammin’ for Nick for this recipe)
Slice the baguette into four sections and slice the sections in half length-wise. Spread a little whole grain mustard on both halves. Smear a layer of onion jam on the bottom half.
Toss the apple slices in a little lemon juice, and then add them to the sandwich. Add a few leaves of lettuce and then top with a layer of cheese. Press the sandwich closed.
If the sandwiches are not going to be eaten right away, wrap the sandwiches in a tight layer of wax paper or plastic wrap. Keep them in a cool place until you’re ready to eat them. They’ll be okay left unrefrigerated for several hours.