Sandwiches III – Not Actually About Beaches or the Occult

Banana and Mayonnaise

Sliced bananas and mayonnaise on bread are a great combination. No-one believes me. And yet it is wonderfully, deliciously true.

BLT

Bacon can be gotten from the grill station in Upper; then just fill it out at the sandwich station and you’re home free. Well, except for paying for your food.

Bacon
Lettuce
Tomato
Mayonnaise (this is one time you actually want a lot of mayonnaise)

Spread the bread with mayonnaise and top with the B, the L, and the T. Mmm. Bacon.

Grilled PB&J

It is exactly what it sounds like: PB&J grilled on a panini press. (An alternate method follows the recipe below.) I am an unabashed evangelist for this sandwich. I have recommended it to everyone from my friends to prospective students, and without fail, this is what happens:

1. Surprise / mild disgust
2. Willingness to try it
3. This is the best thing ever, thank you.

Chum’s offers it for $2 (I think), but for $2.50 (I think) you can get the after-school special: Grilled PB&J and a glass of milk. It is a good deal.  But you don’t have to go to the coffeehouse: upper Usdan also carries sandwiches, and has a panini press. I think you can take it from there.

Note: The dining hall sandwiches are made with grape jelly, but I encourage you, if making it at home, to try different types of nut butters and jellies. Cashew butter and almond butter are the only two I can think of off the top of my head, but there are innumerable jams: strawberry, rhubarb, cherry, peach, raspberry, blood orange…

Alternate method:
If you don’t have a panini press or George Foreman grill-type deal, you can also make this sandwich using a regular PB&J, a skillet, PAM, and a brick wrapped in foil. You don’t have to use the brick (any weighty object like a saucepan will work), but it makes the sandwich roughly three times more awesome. Do wrap it in foil, though: most bricks aren’t that clean.

Heat the skillet until it is very hot and spray with PAM. Place the whole sandwich in the skillet and place the brick (!) on top. When it’s melted, the peanut butter will turn gooey. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Remixed

The C-Store’s free soy sauce packets got me thinking about what I could do with them. Asian food was an obvious choice, but what kind? Chinese? Japanese? Neither – Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand. The classic pairing is peanut butter, and I chose Jif – not the best, but super smooth (read: easy to mix with the soy sauce). Also, the C-Store was out of the organic kind. What can we add to peanut butter and soy sauce to kick it up a notch? A couple things:

• red pepper flakes
• balsamic vinegar (available at the salad bars)
• citrus (preferably lime juice)
• grated ginger

Personally, I added red pepper flakes, but most people probably don’t have any of the above on hand, and only the last is available from the C-Store and then only sometimes. (If, for some reason, you have tamarind on hand, you can add that too, and while you’re at it, share with me.) Et voila!
Here’s the recipe:

• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 soy sauce packet
• optional: 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• optional: 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• optional: 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Note: for the following two ingredients, just ask for a full monty roll and chicken, nothing else.
Sometimes people let you cut in line because you’re getting something really fast.

• bread (full monty roll, whole wheat bread…)
• chicken

Mix the peanut butter and soy sauce together until the mixture assumes approximately the texture of nutella. Add in any or all of the optional ingredients. Spread the mixture on the bread and put on the chicken. Drizzle the chicken with balsamic vinegar if you have it.

Enjoy!