Cheever Sauce

Everybody loves a great sandwich. A truly outstanding sandwich has just as much emphasis on the bread and a creative sauce, as the fresh and high quality ingredients that go inside. I am a sucker for sauces, especially on a sandwich, it just gives it that extra umph! we’re all looking for when we bite in between two pieces of bread. Big Macs didn’t become a hit for no reason…it’s all about the special sauce. So when I stumbled upon a recipe for an arugala and parsley aioli, I instantly knew I found the perfect companion to the roasted veggie sandwich I’ve been dying to make. 

Preparing a veggie sandwich is one of the easiest things you can do and I prefer my veggies over deli meat.  I chose some of my favorites to roast: portabella mushrooms,  red peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. I put a little olive oil on the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic powder on the eggplant, and olive oil and rosemary on the tomatoes. I put everything on 1 baking sheet with the red peppers at 400 degrees, and watched them until I knew each was roasted properly. The mushrooms came out first, and I stuck my sheet back in to let the tomatoes, eggplant and red peppers cook a little longer. The peppers will be blistered and charred when done (Be sure to remove their skins before serving). Roast everything to your desired taste and remove from the oven. 

I spread a little of the Arugula and Parlsey Aioli on one slice of whole grain crusty bread from Balthazar, and goat cheese on the other. I topped off my veggies and added some arugala for added texture. It’s simple and delicious and packs up easy for lunch the next day. 

Read on for the recipe for Arugala and Parsley Aioli

This week I watched “Food Inc.” Big mistake. Damn you Netflix streaming. Now I slightly hyperventilate while walking down the meat aisle at the supermarket and have obsessively been checking the ingredients in everything in my kitchen. I’ve always been one for eating organic, natural, healthy….but like come on, this movie just makes you want to eat vegetables out of your own garden and juice cleanse on fruit smoothies for the rest of your life. 

While the movie certainly had its effect, I still will not, and don’t ever see myself becoming vegetarian. I’m half Greek after all. Have you seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? “Whaaatt, you don’t eat meat? That’s okay - I feed you lamb.”  I will however, make sure add more local vegetables to my diet and spend the extra $$$ and splurge on organic meat when I need my fix. 

For this dish I picked up fresh, local New Jersey tomatoes at Gourmet Garage, and red pepper from Canada (I know! so not local. I promise I will start going to the greenmarket every week). This soup was so easy to make and nothing beats fresh vegetable soup. The sharpness from the goat cheese perfectly balanced the sweetness from the roasted red pepper and tomatoes and I mixed some leftover cilantro I had in the fridge with the crabmeat - which gave it a great zing.

Onto the recipe adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking