Poached Pear and Tapenade Sandwiches

We are now one week past Thanksgiving. All of my leftovers have been consumed (or never will be), and I’m happy to have them gone. As much as I love the Thanksgiving meal, I don’t usually want to eat any leftovers past the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. By Sunday, I’m ready for something completely different. I want something light and fresh. This Poached Pear and Tapenade Sandwich satisfied my craving for something different.

I had a similar sandwich when I attended a meeting up in San Francisco, except the sandwich there had fresh figs in it. By the time I went to recreate the sandwich, there were no fresh figs in the market. I wasn’t going to let a missing ingredient stop me, so I substituted poached pears for the figs, and I’m glad I did. I actually liked the poached pears better than the figs.

The sandwich is the perfect combination of salty and sweet with the fresh mozzarella adding a delicious creaminess. The arugula was my addition. I added it not only for color, but also for its peppery depth.

To make this sandwich for a crowd, you can slice the baguette open and fill it up, or you can cut the baguette into slices and layer the toppings on the bread for a great appetizer.

Poached Pear and Tapenade Sandwiches
Printable Recipe
1 baguette, sliced in half lengthwise
Tapenade (recipe follows)
Poached pears (recipe follows)
16 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 ½ cups arugula

To assemble the sandwiches, spread a generous amount of the tapenade on the bottom half of the sliced baguette. Add the sliced mozzarella, poached pears and arugula. Place the top of the baguette over the sandwich filling and slice crosswise into single serving sized sandwiches.

Tapenade
2 cups kalamata olives, pitted
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground pepper

In the bowl of a food processor, add the olives, thyme, garlic and process until the olives are finely chopped. Add the olive oil and process until smooth.

Poached Pears
adapted from epicurious.com
4 pears, peeled, cored and sliced ½ thick
1 ½ cups red wine
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, bring the wine, sugar, honey, lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon to a boil, add the pears and cook until softened, about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Both of my children like to have hot lunches, and I’ll admit I like hot lunches too.  My daughter and I will eat a sandwich or a salad in a pinch, but we are happier if there is soup involved.  (My husband is another story.  He will eat anything for lunch, including cold food that should be warm. Yuck!)  My son’s hot lunch preference works fine most of the time, since his school serves healthy hot lunches, but when my son needs me to pack him a lunch, then I’m in a quandary.  If he is going to eat at school,  I can pack him soup or chili in a thermos, but if he needs a sack lunch for a fieldtrip,  I have few options.  And, when I finally find something he will eat, he will turn up his nose at same lunch the next time!

At least I can make my family a hot lunch when we are home on the weekends.  Sunday was cold and blustery, so I was happy to make a hot lunch for my family.  And, not only were Chicken Parmesan Burgers healthy (and hot), but they were from my March issue of Bon Appétit.  So, not only was I making my family happy, I was making something from this month’s magazine collection!

Chicken Parmesan Burgers weren’t an unqualified success for the kids. (Les was working and didn’t get to sample the burgers, and I took the fourth burger to work today.  Shh!)  My son loved the burger, and he ate the whole thing, but I had to pull the cheese off, and then he ate it plain on the bread.  My daughter said the burger was “okay,” but I’m used to her proclaiming, “That was amazing!”  So, I was a little disappointed.  She couldn’t tell me exactly what was wrong with it, but she, like my sister, is a dark meat lover, so the burgers might not have been to her taste.  As for me, I loved the burgers!  I wasn’t sure how the bitter radicchio, the peppery basil and the chicken would play together, but all the flavors got along like best friends.  I will definitely make Chicken Parmesan Burgers again.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers
Adapted from Bon Appétit
10 ½-inch-thick French bread slices, toast 8 slices, remove the crust and dice the 2 remaining slices
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil, plus 12 large leaves
¾ cup purchased refrigerated marinara sauce
16 ounces ground chicken
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon grated onion
¼ teaspoon salt
4 slices whole mild mozzarella
4 large radicchio leaves

Place the Parmesan cheese and diced bread into the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until the mixture is in fine crumbs.  Reserve ½ cup of the Parmesan mixture and transfer the remaining mixture to a pie plate.
Mix the marinara and the chopped basil in a small saucepan.  Remove 2 tablespoons of the marinara and place in a large bowl.  Heat the marinara in the saucepan on low, stirring occasionally.   Add the ground chicken to the bowl with the 2 tablespoons of marinara, and mix in the ½ cup of reserved Parmesan mixture, the onion, salt and the ½ tablespoon of olive oil.  Mix until just combined and form into patties.  Dredge the patties in the Parmesan mixture.

Heat the 1½ tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.  When the oil is hot, add the patties.  Cook the patties until the bottoms are golden brown and have developed a crust, about 4 minutes.  Turn the patties over, top with cheese and cook for another 3 minutes.  Cover and cook for 1 minute or until the cheese is melted.

To assemble the sandwiches, place 1 slice of radicchio and 3 slices of basil on a slice of toasted bread.  Add a chicken patty and top with marinara and the second slice of bread.

Kicked Up Tuna Melts

Is there something in your life that comes up seemingly out of the blue, but strangely happens every year?  Ash Wednesday is like that for me.  I know, there’s really no excuse, but I'm surprised every year.  Why the problem?  Well, my meal plan the Sunday before Ash Wednesday usually looks something like this: Monday, Macaroni and Cheese; Tuesday, Tortilla Soup; Wednesday, Beef Tacos; Thursday, Chinese Chicken; Friday, Pork Chops.  About midway through dinner on Tuesday night, I realize the next day is Ash Wednesday, and we have already consumed the two meatless meals I had planned for the week.  Scrambling ensues.  I throw the meat I had planned to serve in the freezer, and then I have to come up with something else, something meatless to serve on Wednesday and Friday.

These Kicked Up Tuna Melts usually do the trick for a quick Lenten meal.  The tuna is light with only a little bit of mayonnaise and bright with the olives, capers and lemon juice.  The provolone melts beautifully over the sandwich, and pairs nicely with the tuna.  But as much as my family enjoys them, I can’t serve them every Friday. 

So, I struggle to come up with quick healthy and meatless (but not necessarily fishless) meals during Lent.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.  I would appreciate your input!