Cucumber Cream Cheese Cilantro Sandwiches, for Now

I am in a bit of a sinkhole at the moment.  

I am researching the role of pasta in post-unification Italy for my final paper this semester.  I am also recovering from making the world’s worst pudding on Friday night.  And if I am truly being honest, I did not fair much better attempting a chocolate poppy seed krantz cake on Saturday.  Though, I did learn if your dough only slightly rises you can turn krantz cake into "rugelach." 

What I really want to do is sit down with the Sunday Times, have a mangled krantz-rugelach with a cup of coffee, and stop time.  But a paper on pasta in Futurist-Fascist Italy is not going to write itself.

Which is why I am bringing you cucumbers in November. 

This is one of my all-time favorite sandwiches.  They are perfect for summer, which is when I first made them. (Dave and I smuggled them onto the Downeaster to Portland a few months ago.)  They are also quick, and so they fit in any old time.

The ingredients hardly require a garden in our age of the supermarket.  It is also worth mentioning if you make any of Jeni’s ice creams—and are bagel-deprived—you’ll need a use for the leftover cream cheese.  (Here is one of my favorite recipes using her lovely base.)

So allow me to introduce the cream cheese cucumber sandwich, of which I am ideological fan.  In reality those two need some spunk to get me excited about consuming them in tandem.  The chili garlic sauce, cilantro, and capers come in to make the magic happen.  You will also want a really good sourdough or nutty multigrain bread because the outsides are as important as the insides when crafting a sandwich.

Which we have the luxury of securing.  Because—thankfully—this is not fascist Italy.  This is post-ice cream New England, with sandwiches.

Now back to the twentieth century.

Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwiches with Chili and Cilantro

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
• 10 to 12 cilantro sprigs, stems and leaves finely chopped
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• black pepper and salt to taste
• about 1½ tbsp chili garlic sauce, divided
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• slices of bread (I recommend sourdough)

Instructions:

Combine the cream cheese, capers, cilantro, and scallion; taste and adjust seasoning.  Spread a little of the mixture on each piece of sourdough (about a tablespoon).  

Place a few slices of cucumber on one slice of bread and spread about a tsp of chili sauce on the other.  Combine sides.  

Slice and eat.

Makes 3 to 4 sandwiches

Notes:

1. Instructions are based on one sandwich.  The number of sandwiches will depend on how thick you spread it.

Save Swine, Eat a TLT (Tofu Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich)

Save a pig.  Eat a soybean.  The slogan still needs work.  Luckily, the tofu does not.

This idea is inspired by the site 101 Cookbooks.  The original recipe was for a “TLT,” a take on the beloved classic BLT.  It featured tempeh though, which try as I might, I just cannot endorse. Tempeh and I are not friendly.  So I have been making the sandwich with tofu ever since.

The thin strips soak in a marinade that is meant to recall an essence of bacon.  If you really want a BLT, you had better use swine.  But the liquid, which is smoky and a little spicy from the chipotle, sweet from the maple, and salty from the tamari, can easily hold its own.

If you welcome the TLT as a singular entity, it makes a wonderful vegetarian-friendly counterpoint, employing the usual sidekicks: lettuce, tomato, and mayo.  The sandwich itself is not far off from the soy BLT MIT-based Clover Food Lab sells.  Their mantra being, local fast food done a la vegetarian.

So, perhaps, save a BLT.  Eat a TLT.  It is not meant as a substitute for the adored piggy classic.  But it makes a t.asty l.ittle t.ofu sandwich all its own.

TLT Tofu

Inspired by 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:

• 1½ tbsp olive oil (plus more for the pan)
• ¼ cup tamari (soy sauce)
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
• 4 to 5 tbsp adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)
• about 14 ounces firm or extra firm tofu (1 block)

Instructions:

In a rectangular baking dish, mix together the oil, tamari, vinegar, brown sugar (or maple) and adobo sauce.  (Use less adobo if you don't like spice.)

Slice the tofu into 4 or 5 rectangular slabs and then slice each slab into 3 pieces lengthwise, so you get long strips. 

Lay the strips into the baking dish with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap, and let marinate in the fridge, ideally overnight.

Heat a medium sauté pan on medium to medium-high heat and add a glug of oil to the pan.  Add half the tofu (or all of it, depending on the size of your pan) and half the marinade to the hot pan. 

Cook the tofu for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until the tofu starts to gather color on its underside. 

Flip the tofu and cook until fairly firm to the touch (about 10 minutes in total).  If the tofu starts to burn, turn the heat down.  Wipe down the pan and repeat the process, if cooking in two batches.

Makes 12 to 15 strips

Notes:

1. I don’t need to tell you, you know how to make a BLT.  Use your favorite bread with tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo.  Sometimes I put a little lemon zest in the mayo. I like the TLT either on a brioche bun or in a pita.
2. 21st Century Tofu and Chang Shing Tofu are two local brands.
3. The sauce has a tendency to burn on you, so be sure to watch it and turn down the heat (or add a little more sauce to the pan) if needed.
4. I like tamari, which is typically made solely from soybeans, so that is the sauce I stock.

Baked Herb and Pistachio Falafel, Willingly

I am not currently wearing raw linen.  Or hemp underwear.  I have not started making my own soap. Nor do I have plans to unite a ragtag gang of loners to start a banjo band.  This much I can assure you.  

But things have definitely gone a bit granola in my apartment. I have been hooked on homemade pita.  I have no fewer than five jars of assorted nut and seed butters in the side compartment of my fridge. And a steay supply of bulk grains and dried beans has crept quietly in along with some Dr. Bronner’s magic soap.

I have all but made friends with Pancho and Lefty after one too many nights listening to Willie Nelson.  

So when I found this recipe, I figured it was time to pack up and move straight to the chickpea commune.  It is a fairly easy recipe.  It just requires some pistachios and fresh herb, along with the obligatory beans and basic kitchen equipment.  

It gently suggests you be laid back when you make them.  And that is about it.  Which is what you might expect from a baked falafel.

Since these guys are not fried, they have a tendency to crumble once you bite into them.  But I would not consider this a weakness.  Especially if you have them properly sandwiched and sauced in a pita.  They are baked after all, man.   They are also downright delicious. 

I will spare you the adjectives.  Just know that these guys are easy to love.  And easy to hold.  Unlike cowboys.  And perhaps people that live on communes.

Baked Herb and Pistachio Falafel with Tahini Dressing

Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:

for the falafel

• 8 sprigs fresh mint
• 8 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley
• ½ cup pistachios
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1 clove garlic 
• 1 to 2 tbsp minced onion 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 5 cardamom seeds, ground (shells discarded)
• 1 tbsp flour 
• pinch cumin 
• pinch red pepper flakes 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• dash of orange blossom water (optional)

for the tahini dressing

• 2 tbsp tahini 
• 1 tbsp cashew butter 
• juice of ½ a lemon 
• 1 to 2 tbsp olive oil 
• pinch of red pepper flakes 
• pinch of cumin 
• pinch of coriander 
• salt to taste

Instructions:

Set the oven to 395 degrees.

Remove the herbs from their stems, then blend the leaves in a food processor (or blender). Add the pistachio and pulse until well combined. Add the chickpeas and remaining ingredients and process until combined. 

Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. (Be careful with the salt as there is sodium in the baking soda.) If the mixture does not easily clump together and hold its shape, add a bit more olive oil.

Scoop out about 1 heaping tablespoon of the mixture and gently roll it into a ball, cupping it and packing it with your hands to firm it up a bit.  Place each ball on a baking sheet greased with a little olive oil.  

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until they start to turn brown.  (You may want to turn them occasionally to allow them to get color on all sides.)

While the falafel are baking, combine all the tahini dressing ingredients together in a food processor (or blender). Thin the dressing with a little water and adjust the seasoning as needed.  

Serve the falafel and dressing in a pita.  I like them with lettuce, tomato, onion and plain cumin-flavored Greek yogurt.

Makes about 15 falafel and about ½ cup dressing

Notes:

1. I used dried chickpeas that I cook and keep on hand in my freezer until they are called into falafel duty.  If you are using canned chickpeas, you may want to rinse them first.