Marinated Raw Vegetables Sandwich & Vertical Salad

This is simply the best veggie sandwich you will ever eat. It’s crunchy, bright in flavors, packed with vitamins, and totally satisfying. I could eat it every day. In fact, I ate it 3 days in row last week! Not feeling guilty about it at all either. It’s springtime right now, and aside from being delicious, this would make for a great lunch for those looking to slim down for the summer (including me!).

I stumbled upon this new sandwich idea, after trying out a new recipe I found on Wholehearted Eats. It is a wonderful blog for all recipes vegetarian, vegan, gluten free or raw. Sophie has been so sweet to let me show you how I made her Beet Rawzangne. I am so happy I did, as, in the process, I’ve learned a great new way of prepping vegetables. The key is in the marinade!

This is Sophie’s Beet Rawzagne. She made it with a Cashew Ricotta. It’s gluten free, vegan and raw. (G/F, V, R). I loved the idea of trying something new with beets. I made mine with goat cheese, instead of the Cashew Ricotta. I did this, just because I like goat cheese and it simplified the recipe. I wanted to keep it simple this time, since it was my first try at making something that looked so fancy. I do want to try that Cashew Ricotta in the future, though!

Despite it’s fancy appearances, it turned out that this really wasn’t hard at all. It only took me a few minutes to prepare it. You should use a mandolin to get the slices nice and thin with little effort. These are a great addition to have in the kitchen, if you haven’t acquired one. If you don’t have one, just use your best knife skills.

Ingredients

• 1 beet
• 1 green zucchini
• 1 yellow zucchini
• 2 lemons
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• Goat cheese
• Kalamata olives
• (or store bought tapenade)
• Basil pesto

1. Slice the zucchinis and beets (in that order) on the mandolin, or thinly with a knife.
2. Whisk together the juice of the lemons with the olive oil and salt pepper.
3. Marinade the beets and zucchinis in the lemon; olive oil mixture in two separate ziplock bags, for 1-2 hours. (The beets will make everything else red if you’re not careful to keep them separate).
4. Whip up the goat cheese with a fork, so that it is spreadable.
5. Layer the marinated vegetables with the goats cheese (dabbing the beets on a paper towel as you go).
6. Puree the Kalamata olives, to create a tapenade.
7. Serve the vegetable stack with a spoonful of tapenade and basil pesto, spread nicely on the plate.

These marinated vegetables last 3 days in the refrigerator for me, still with their great crunch. That’s how the sandwich was born!

1. Slice and marinade the beets and zucchini, following steps 1-3 in recipe instructions above.
2. Place a handful of baby spinach leaves on a good, multigrain bread.
3. Place the marinated beets on top, and crumble on some goat cheese.
4. Add the marinated zucchini.
5. Top with fresh basil leaves.

Bon Appetite!