I had picked up some stunning striped green tomatoes at the Farmers Market
The sign by them said they were great for (B)LT's... Right there I was sold, both on the produce and on what to do with them. During the rest of that run, I also picked up a few other green veggies and so it was that the idea of an all green veggie sandwich started to grow. And it was sealed after a busy but nice Sunday in Oakland, going among other places to the Eat Real Festival and catching the People's Climate March rally assembling by Lake Merritt on the way to the Oakland Museum of California (a nice place to spend an interesting and informative afternoon with kiddos). At the Eat Real Festival, I got to try some fine fries from one of the vendors (so sorry, forgot to write down the name but I will try and search!) - loved their chunky cut and the fried herbs they were coated in...
After all this, I was in the mood for a breakfast for dinner fare. So back in the kitchen, I whipped up some gluten free waffles and proceeded to get my greens prep'ed for some piled high green veggie multigrain waffle sandwiches (a mouthful name in itself! :)).
Veggies included said green tomatoes, sunflower sprouts, really fresh gem lettuce leaves, and some chives, all from the Farmers Market run. I also made some hummus to add a little more protein and use as a sauce of sort for the veggies.
To make the waffles I used the following homemade (and made from scratch :)) multigrain flour mix: 1/2c. masa harina, 1/4c. almond flour, 1/4c. buckwheat flour, 1/4c. arrow root, 3/4c. brown rice flour. I put this mix along with 2 eggs, 1 & 1/2 cup almond milk, a pinch of salt, 1 & 1/2 tbsp maple syrup, 1/4 c vegetable oil (1/2 canola & 1/2 olive oil), and 4 tsp baking powder in my food processor and blended until smooth. Then poured 2-3 large tbsp of batter per waffle in the waffle maker, just enough to have one side well formed and the other non completely filled and a little flat.
To assemble the sandwich, I put one waffle face completely formed down, spread some hummus on top, sprinkled some chives, added slices of tomato, sprinkled some more chives, arranged some microgreens and gem lettuce leaves, then closed with another waffle. Of course, salt and pepper were sprinkled on the layers along the way.
The result was definitely a mouthful, but a satisfying one. Couldn't have found a better way to mix comfort and veggie love on a Sunday evening. All real food! :)
By the way:
- All (organic) greens were from the Berkeley Farmers Market, and those beautiful green tomatoes from Happy Boy Farms.
- I like to make my own GF flour blends to see what works for me and what works well for what I am trying to bake or cook. And I also get to choose providers and sources, and experiment with different grains. So, I personally prefer this approach and would recommend it. This being said there are some really good GF mix vendors so of course, using these would be good too if that is what you prefer. And if you do not need to eat gluten-free, you can change the flour mix too. I'd still keep the buckweat and masa harina, and use spelt or wholewheat flour.
- You could use any other green veggie blend of your liking.
- Some green goddess dressing, tahini sauce or yoghurt sauce (if you can/like to eat dairies), or even mayo, would be great with this also. Planning on trying one of these next time.
- This dish is low in FODMAPs, gluten-free, dairy-free, and will make Meatless Monday, real food, comfort food, conscious, healthy and vegetarian eaters happy too! (win win win win... ;)).
- One more thing: if you are near Oakland next year, I can certainly recommend the Eat Real Festival - a large and varied line up of vendors and food trucks at Jack London Square and a good time to sample real and local foods!
