Potato Flatbread Sandwich

OK I fully admit that posts like my last one are part of the reason that my doctor calls me "fat fat fat"  and I really do have to admit that for me bacon is an evil temptress. I think that all of you are all pretty bright, if you have read even a few of my posts you can see that my friend the pig comes up often, but you don't know the full story... at work we make bacon by the bucket full.  So on any given morning I will walk through the kitchen and look! someone is pulling a pan of bacon out of the oven... "I better try one."  A few minutes later I will go by and there I see someone else putting bacon 50 or 60 slices of bacon into a serving pan "hmm, those look a little more done than the first batch I better try one..."  Then there is always "quality assurance, I had better inspect."  At the end of the day we go through about 700 slices of bacon... no I don't eat them ALL but I don't count on purpose.  I am pretty sure that if I could just walk past the siren song (well smell) of bacon I won't have that conversation with the doctor on my next visit...

All that being said I do try to lighten it up sometimes, this flatbread sandwich/salad does just fine for those *non-bacony meals, when I have something lighter with actual vegetables and other good stuff.  It is as simple as can be the potato flatbread topped with a grilled chicken breast and spinach with blueberry vinaigrette dressing.  It all pulls together well with a nice mix of flavors ranging from the sweet tangy dressing and the bite of goat cheese all wrapped in the warm *potaotey comfort that it deserves.

Potato Flat Bread
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp minced onion
1 tsp sugar
chopped cilantro
1/2 cup water

Mix the first 5 ingredients together then add the water,** start with half the amount the add until it is sticky but firm.  When it is well mixed cover and set aside for at least half an hour.  When you are ready to prepare cut ball into quarters, dust with flour and roll flat into about 8 inch circles.  Then throw them onto a hot lightly oiled pan, for me it worked best with a quick squirt of pan spray.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes on a side until lightly browned and flexible.  As you take them off stack them and set aside until ready to serve... I can't say how long they will last because I eat them too fast

Spinach Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 tsp sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries)

Puree all ingredients until smooth (I used a stick blender).

To assemble toss some baby spinach with some of the dressing... place a flatbread on your plate, top with the dressed spinach leaves.  Lay a sliced chicken breast on that them top with fresh blueberries, onions and goat cheese.

*it seems that I have taken to making up my own words... lets see what happens in a few years maybe they will be in the dictionary.

** I have made this three times now, twice the water was just right the other time I had to add another 1/2 cup of flour.  I never quite understand that stuff, flour seems to have a mind of it's own sometimes

Deconstructed Tomato Sandwich

I have been reading, with great envy, all of the posts that my blogger friends have graced us with about the simple but almost perfect tomato sandwich.  They have talked about what a wonderful summer treat it can be... to take a tomato fresh from the vine, put it on (white, wheat, french or flat) bread with a little mayo, or vinegar and just enjoy the little summer heaven that it is.

I planted one of those upside down tomato thingies again this year so far I have 2 tomatoes that are ready to go but that is about it as you can see a lot of leaves but just the two little guys.  So what can I do?  Well my neighbors are away at their church family camp this week and their garden looks great so the obvious answer is to jump our fence and grab all of the booty I can get.  

Miss Lu takes my picture while I raid the garden

I got three or four different kinds of tomatoes then ran back home to make my deconstructed tomato sandwich.  Why a deconstructed tomato sandwich you ask... maybe because deconstructed dishes seem to be popular on Iron Chef?

Not really, I am not good at keeping up with trends (it probably isn't one anyway).  I deconstructed it because I had 4 kinds of tomato and couldn't make a coherent plate.  Two were quartered, one sliced and another diced up, so I toasted some flat bread and put the tomatoes on the side of the plate.  This was really simple the tomatoes are on one side of the plate the toasted flat bread on the other with a basil chiffonade over the entire thing I put a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper on the luscious tomatoes then a dab of mayo on the side and had the perfect dinner.

Ok before any of you call the cops on me, my wonderful neighbors Jennie and John asked me to pick any veggies that ripened in their garden while they were away (thanks guys) but I did feel a little guilty, they were really good.