Not Exactly Cobb Salad Sandwich (338)

Lately, I have lamented, a little too much possibly, that I feel uninspired in the cooking arena. Removing tomato sauce products out of my cooking repetoire meant a huge blow to the regular stock in my freezer.  So, I’ve been on the hunt for recipes…simple recipes as I’m still not comfortable with overly complicated things.  Everyday Food, while a long time favorite of mine, no longer holds the wonder and luster it once did.  Either I’ve gotten bored with the magazine, or the magazine has gotten boring.  I’m thinking it is the latter and won’t be renewing my subscription.  With that in mind, I subscribed to Cook’s Country (I am a bit America’s Test Kitchen fan) but haven’t tried another recipe since the recent pancake failure.  I seriously need inspiration so I did what I normally do when I need that: I go to the library.

I borrowed two Cooking Light books while there.  First, I grabbed Fresh Food Fast since it purported to have 5-ingredient, 15-minute recipes and was a full-color-with-lots-of-pictures cookbook.  Recipes with accompanying pictures are a high priority for me.  I also picked up the 2011 Annual Recipes edition.  Since it contains all recipes from one years worth of the magazine, I thought it might give me a good feel for the publication.  I have a feeling that I might want to subscribe to this one…but I’m debating it still.

I spent longer with Fresh Food Fast the other night than I have with any other cookbook.  Often, I skip a large majority of recipes since I am still a picky eater.  Somethings I just don’t like (such as bleu cheese) and somethings I’m still just not ready to try…or try again (like beets).  But the book was just what I needed for that bit of inspiration and pick-me-up on the food front.

I found a recipe for a Cobb salad sandwich and it immediately intrigued me on for a number of reasons. First, I’ve never eaten a Cobb salad. Why? Well, the whole bleu cheese factor is why. I really don’t like bleu cheese. And I’m not a fan of feta either. But I don’t want to digress too much. While I didn’t strictly stick to the idea of their Cobb salad sandwich, I did grab the components of a hard boiled egg, sliced turkey, bacon, avocado, and lettuce with the result of a darn tasty sandwich. I used some fabulous pita bread I found (and will review later). Originally, I planned to create a wrap, but for some reason I can never wrap things in a tortilla right. It broke apart and was just not lunch worthy. So the ingredients (minus the tortilla) went into the pita pocket I had purchased as a back up plan.

Roasted fingerling potatoes and carrots coupled with steamed green beans accompanied the sandwich along with sliced oranges (not pictured and in a separate container). I can’t even describe to you how big of a success this was. It was a great meal. Not too heavy as summer is fast approaching in Louisiana and the days are getting hotter. Which means I want lighter meals. And it’s a sandwich!  Something I don’t pack too often as two slices of bread with some meat slapped between is not my idea of a great lunch.  It’s my idea of an easy dinner which I enjoy often.  But I like something a bit more for lunch.  I guess I’m opposite in some ways: I prefer a hot meal for lunch over one for dinner.

I would like to remake this sandwich with a turkey breast I cook myself. That will be something to come. In the meantime, I’m going to sit down with this book and make a list of what I want to make next and do a bit of grocery shopping this weekend. Then, I plan to renew this book as many times as the library will let me before I give it up out of my greedy little hands.

Be the bento everyone and TGIF!

I received no compensation for this post nor am I affiliated with Cooking Light magazine.  However, I am deeply affiliated with my local library.  I hope you are too.