Summer Sandwich - interesting sandwich idea

I was told this at a Jul 3, 2014 party.

Summer Sandwich heard on NPR

• wheat bread
• crunchy peanut butter
• red vidalia onion
• cucumber
• tomato
• extra sharp cheddar cheese

After a web search:

http://www.npr.org/2013/07/24/199149179/taste-of-summer-finalist-dianes-dads-sandwich

Marti Olesen's favorite summer recipe is plucked straight from the garden — and the faster it gets to your plate, the better. She calls it Diane's Dad's Summer Sandwich.

"I've been eating this sandwich for 27 years, and I am the epitome of health — and beauty," Olesen laughs.

The ingredient list starts out pretty traditionally: Tomatoes, Vidalia or red sweet onion, and cucumbers, all fresh and sliced thinly. The veggies are placed between two slices of whole grain bread with white cheddar cheese. But the sandwich isn't complete until you slather on some crunchy peanut butter.

It turns out there was a secret order, after all: Cheese on top, then tomato, cucumber, onion and crunchy peanut butter on the bottom. Olesen is still mystified why the order matters so much.

"I did an experiment the other day. I made the sandwich in the right order, and I turned it upside down, and it was not as good," she says.

Recipe: Diane's Dad's Summer Sandwich

Olesen says this sandwich tastes best when the ingredients are impeccably fresh, thinly sliced and added in the order listed. She suggests serving it with blue corn chips.

Makes one sandwich

4-6 thin slices white sharp cheddar cheese

Tomato, thinly sliced

Cucumber, thinly sliced

Vidalia or red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 slices whole grain bread

Layer the ingredients in the order given; eat with the cheese layer on top.

http://www.npr.org/2013/07/26/205490656/and-the-winning-taste-of-summer-is

The voting is finished. The taste test is done. The verdict is in: Marti Olesen has won All Things Considered's Taste of Summer contest with her recipe for Diane's Dad's Summer Sandwich.

But Marti Olesen's story was stealthy. On the surface, it was simple: She hears about a recipe with ingredients that seem odd together, she tries it, she doesn't like it. But then she learns the secret: It's in the layering. She tries it again and loves it so much she plants a garden to better enjoy this summer sandwich. Her dedication to this thing that didn't seem like it would taste all that good is also appealing.

But here's one thing that gave the summer sandwich an edge: It has high shareability, in that it's a recipe people really, really want to share.

Over and over, pro-sandwich listeners wrote in along these lines: "I couldn't believe this sandwich, with its white cheddar cheese, tomato, cucumber, onion and crunchy peanut butter combo, could possibly be that good. So I made it. I loved it. I loved it so much I made another. I made my kids try it. They loved it. I cannot wait to make it again."

#food - #home - #recipe