How To Spice Up A Sandwich ~ Spicy Vegan Muffuletta

Sandwiches. They are a staple meal when you have a busy schedule but you don’t want to eat out or order in, and if you can make them healthy and delicious then you’ve hit the jackpot.

The Sandwich Jackpot, sounds like a pretty amazing lottery, right?

These last few weeks have been incredibly busy with settling into a new place, dealing with immigration bureaucracy, getting used to being surrounded by friends and family and all that…so of course there was a day when I didn’t feel like cooking. Sort of.

I found an amazing round loaf of bread and it hit me; muffuletta sandwich. For those of you unfamiliar with the deliciously amazing muffuletta sandwich, it is a New Orleans staple named after the muffuletta bread.

The key is to find bread that is thick and hearty enough to hold all the ingredients without being so hard that you scrape the roof of your mouth or find the sandwich impossible to eat. Now for those of you who prefer to eat a certain way, I’ll tell you now that this is a messy sandwich with a capital ‘M’. Don’t be afraid to squeeze the bread to make sure there’s some give and here’s a tip: if you find a round bread that you want to use but it’s too thick, yank out some of the softness to make room for more sammie!

If you’re a non-vegan then you’ll find putting together this sandwich pretty easily because there will be lots of processed meat and cheese but for those of us aiming for something a little different, we need a bit more time and creativity.

Let’s start with the top layer of bread, that’s where the tapenade goes and for my tapenade I used: black & green olives, shallot, garlic, sundried tomatoes, capers, lemon juice, parsley, red bell pepper and a healthy squirt of sriracha. Toss it in a food processor until it is blended and a bit chunky and slather that baby on the top of the bread.

For the “meat” of the sandwich I slice and grilled artichokes, zucchini, purple kohlrabi (I sauteed the leaves with garlic to add some dark leafy greens), yellow onions, red & green bell pepper and MORE garlic. I added a variety of seasoning including sea salt & black pepper, oregano, basil and cumin.

And you can’t have a delicious sandwich without a side of roasted herbed potatoes!

One thing to remember about this sandwich is that it works best if you assemble it as one big unit so you can spread all the ingredients evenly and in layers, and then cut it in quarters, or for however many people you plan to feed.

Yes, this is a messy eat but when you’re eating with family, who cares, right?

If you’re really feeling festive or you just love picked veg, add pickles, pickled cauliflower, pepperoncini or giardiniera and ice cold beer for a full, fun & simple meal.

And completely plant based to boot!

poftă bună!’