The sustainable food project: Troubleshooting sandwich toppings

by Sarah Gilbert, Posted Jan 2nd 2008 @ 10:41AM

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a book extolling the virtues of eating locally (and the horrors of eating veggies trucked in from California, Chile, and other places far afield). Beyond simply pushing organic food or a vegetarian lifestyle, Kingsolver suggests that eating foods grown locally, in season, by farmers using sustainable practices can, basically, save the world -- not to mention, be delicious. I've swallowed her pitch hook, line, and heirloom potato, and have begun deeply rethinking our family's grocery lists. Starting this process in the dead of winter is a challenge, and "the sustainable food project" is my way of sharing the struggle with you.

The sandwich, a staple of my family's diet, is a particularly interesting problem. Were I to open a pictorial culinary dictionary under "S," I'd imagine a photo of bread, meat, tomato, lettuce, mayo. But fresh red tomatoes and leafy green lettuce are anything but in season in Oregon, where I live -- and the vast majority of the U.S. and Europe for the next several months. Because it's easy to find a sustainably-farmed source, we've been eating lots of beef, ham, and crusty local bread, but what else?

I've been able to find lots of delicious, flavorful options utilizing local, organic produce.

Some other options would require either forethought and minor preservation skills; or a farmer/friend/market source. Next winter, I vow my pantry will be stocked!

Winter sandwich toppings for the sustainable eater(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Onions are still delicious in the dead of winter

Caramelized onions/shallots. I sautéed a couple of monstrous shallots I found at the farmer's market on New Year's Eve and served them alongside slices of New York strip steak for make-your-own sandwiches -- no one asked after California tomatoes.
Goat cheese. All through the winter, goats keep making their delicious, strong-flavored milk, and dairy farmers keep making it into cheese. Especially good with slices of rare beef.
Winter greens sautéed with garlic. I buy chard and kale in bunches, cook in batches, then freeze whatever I can't eat right away; I always save a cupful for grilled cheese and black forest ham sandwiches, and to throw in quesadillas.
Roasted peppers. Preserved by canning or freezing, roasted peppers save summer's flavors and are great foils for all kinds of cheese and meats.
Pickles, all sorts. The poster child for preservation, the pickle is a constant winter sandwich topper. Great on chicken and tuna salad.
Bechamel sauce. There's a great reason the French (masters of eating with the seasons) love croque-monsieur in the winter.

Filed Under: Trends, Ingredients
Tags: america, lettuce, local, local food, LocalFood, locavore, sandwich, sandwiches, slow food, SlowFood, sustainable, sustainable-food, sustainable-food-project, tomato, vegetables

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Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)

1-02-2008 @7:54PM Debi said... I live in California and the tomatoes are AWFUL unless they are grown in my back yard. The one staple I LOVE is the avocado. I know plenty of you don't get them or even know what it is, but it is a great topping for any sandwich.
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1-02-2008 @9:35PM None said... You know, even in a small, cramped space, a tiny indoor garden in a window is an easy thing to maintain. I have my own herbs, tomatoes, strawberries and other cooking necessities all year long.

In answer to the local farms being bought my developers: Buying locally from local farms can save this from happening to more of them! The precise reason this aricle is a good one!
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1-03-2008 @8:44AM Clay said... I work in the transportation industry. My company deals with moving produce all over the country (ok, so shoot me for contributing to global destruction. But my family needs $$$ too...). Any way, be careful buying from "farmers markets", be sure to ask if they grow the product that they are selling. Get to know the folks at farmer markets. There are companies all over the country that sort through the product that produce distributors and super markets reject (for various reasons like temperature and size issues) and then they sell this product to anyone who wants to buy it for very little $.
This is the produce that allot of your "farmers markets" and small produce stands resell to the public. Sorry to tell everyone this. But it's true.
Bottom line, I guess, is to really get to know the people who sell you your produce. There are allot of local growers who do sell there product, but there are probably more who sell the rejected stuff.

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