Growing a Serious Sandwich

With spring weather (finally-maybe-is-it-really) coming to most of the country it’s about time to start talking gardening. Now, to put it nicely my cooking technique focuses on creativity and innovation at the expense of perfection and measurement, and my gardening experience, not surprisingly, has had about as much success as my baking repertoire. Which is to say…not much.

So I was excited to receive a shipment of Gro-ables, a foolproof new way to grow herbs and vegetables in your backyard, garden or kitchen. Gro-ables are ready-to-plant seed pods that come with a built-in environment for your seed. Each pod contains growing materials, plant food and seeds (basil, spinach, cilantro, dill, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes and more). All you need to do is open the seed pod, drop it in some dirt and then water occasionally. Now that’s my kind of gardening.

With sunny weather on hand this week, I was inspired to get going with my Gro-ables — planting some basil, cherry tomatoes and lettuce on my windowsill. That in turn got me hungry for some fresh herbs and veggies, so while I’m waiting for those to grow, I took the basil I already had on hand, whipped up some fresh pesto and put together a new take on an ES favorite sandwich.

BLT Sandwich with Fresh Pesto, Mozzarella and Basil

Homemade Pesto

4 cloves garlic
2/3 cup fresh basil
1/3 cup Italian parsley
1/2 cup grated parm cheese
1/3 pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until creamy and smooth in texture.

BLT

1 baguette
10 leaves fresh basil
1/2 ball mozzarella, sliced
1/2 tomato, sliced
2 strips bacon
A few leaves of lettuce

Fry bacon to desired crispness and remove from pan; then toast your baguette up, sliced side down, in the bacon grease.

Dress sandwich with lettuce, bacon, tomato, cheese, basil and pesto.

EAT.

This post is sponsored by Miracle-Gro