Something very strange happened yesterday. I went over to my neighbour’s flat and knocked on her door. She opened it. This is not unusual. Well maybe it is a little bit in most of America but in this case, it’s boring. I know her. We’ve met. At a bus stop, but yet, we’ve done the this and that required for initial human contact.
After talking for a bit, she turned on the TV, went to the red logo magical streaming thing, and hit play on a show I never thought I’d watch: Desperate Housewives. Ick. Sorry Ranvijay and everybody else who worships the Cherry or Berry that created these women, I can’t help rolling my eyes at some of the stuff that comes up.
And my eyes really hurt.
As it typically goes, my sweet neighbour asked me if I watched these women and their secret everything lies. As it typically goes with questions I don’t want to answer, I did my diplomatic “Ohhh my mother and sister used to watch it. Big fans.” Why I feel the need to not disappoint her is beyond me. Maybe I thought she loved her role as a stay at home mother so much that watching a desperate housewife was something very personal for her. Considering the phase of life I find myself in, that fictitious world it’s 100000% something I’d like to pretend never existed in my memory.
Ever.
Because some days sandwiches are the last thing I want to be known for and other days they’re my only friends.
Because some days (most days) I feel like I’m too young for this and other days my stretchy pants feel like a very good deal.
Because some days I just want my own money so I can book airplane tickets to places I close my eyes and point to and other days I can’t get past the door.
Because some days I want to deny Desperate Housewives and the fact that I know their names (Mother, sister, remember?) and other days Susan Delfino Season 7 episode *I don’t know*.
Okay it was episode 3. I know because I googled it.
Now leave me alone.
Roasted spicy sweet potato goat cheese and pesto sandwich
The in-house carnivore loved this sandwich. In this case his opinion matters because he is the in-house carnivore and I am the in-house lentil-eating, rice-munching, spinach-grazing non in-house carnivore. And I unhealthily heart taters. Precious. (Movie reference. Name it, win a lifetime of photographs I take of myself in the bathroom mirror).
Though I have added quantities for the spices (and cheese and pesto), it complete depends on you and how much more or less you want to add. The fennel seeds add a very “refreshing” flavour, the cumin adds spicy smokiness and the red pepper flakes add heat. The goat cheese adds happiness and the pesto justifies the goat cheese, plus MOAR. Own it.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bread (I used whole wheat Pane Francese {it’s like a baguette but with more volume} and made two 6 inch sandwiches)
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 oz goat cheese (at room temperature)
- 2 oz cilantro basil pesto
- 2 handfuls of winter greens washed, dried and tossed with lemon juice
Finally, I begin!
Peel the sweet potato and chop it…erm. I forgot the word. What I mean to say is you have to cut it the opposite of length-wise, into the little circles about 1/4 inch thick. I am the best recipe-writer in the world right now.
Thankfully I have a picture for it.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, which is my house takes 10 days and by that time I’ve paid for 8 deli sandwiches from the corner store. I kid. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil and brushing it lightly with olive oil. In a bowl, toss the cut sweet potato in olive oil, and the spices + the salt. Place them on the sheet and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. At the 15-minute mark, you need to turn each slice of potato so it cooks on the other side too. You want it to be tender on the inside and slightly golden brown delish on the outside. As you can see in the picture above, the potato slices were a bit uneven in thickness. It didn’t matter too much except for the smaller slices which cooked and got blackened too much on the edges. No. Big. Deal. You will have enough for 2 sandwiches either way.
Set the oven to broil (500 degrees F), slice the bread LENGTH-WISE (THANK YOU) and place it in the hot oven face down. Leave it in for 3 minutes and get the other sandwich fillings ready to fill ‘er up. I’m going to be pretentious of the order of things. I urge you to rebel. I’m fickle like that.
- Spread the cilantro-pesto basil on the base of the sandwich. YUM.
- Sweet potato goes on top.
- Lemony greens.
- Goat cheese on the very top. Go thick or go home.
- Why does this sound the way it sounds?
- It’s ready to eat.
- It can sound any way it wants right now.
Your sandwich is ready. You don’t need to read this anymore.
GO.
Eat.