totally ripping off the sandwich from spanglish... with a twist

let me confess: i enjoyed the movie spanglish. yes, the one starring adam sandler in a non-sandlerian role and featuring that woman who looks like, but is not, penelope cruz (yet is friends with cruz, is therefore photographed with cruz, thereby making things very difficult for the rest of us!) the woman's name is paz vega, and she is lovely actress in her own right.

what i really love about the movie, aside from the young girl who plays vega's daughter, is sandwich that sandler's character makes as a midnight snack. the exact recipe, also featured on the movie's dvd, can be found here.

my version differs significantly - i don't use bacon or mayo or butter or jack cheese - but there is an important similarity - i love the drippy egg factor (see below for more on my love of the egg; and read the original sandwich description for more on what i mean by the drippy egg factor)

in a nutshell, this sandwich is a real crowd pleaser if your crowd consists of lactose intolerant vegetarians who like protein. i am all of those things and hence, i was quite pleased with myself. i've made a few different versions of this sandwich, but the meat (pun intended) is always the same.

i start off by heating up a naked quorn cutlet in a saute pan or on the grill. i season it with just a little salt and pepper and olive oil. while that's cooking, i toast up a couple of slices of alvarado st. bakery wheat bread. last time, i used the kind they make for diabetics - it's the only kind of diabetic bread that actually tastes like bread, in my opinion. it doesn't have the sticky consistency that some other 'low carb' breads tend to have.

when the cutlet is finished, i let it rest and cool a bit on the cutting board. after it cools, i slice it on an angle to create thin, wide slices.

next, i spray some olive into the saute pan and crack open an egg - one of the few times i'll use the whole egg. i let the white set and then flip it over and turn the heat off. the pan is hot and will keep cooking the other side, but not too much, which is just right.

onto the toasted slices of bread, i added a thin layer of olive spread - not quite a tapenade, more like crushed green olives. i placed a layer of quorn slices, topped with the tiniest sprinkling of sheep's milk feta, topped with a small handful of arugula, topped with the rest of the quorn slices, and finally topped with the cooked egg.

top with the second slice of bread. press gently and cut. done right, some of the yolk will run down the sandwich and flavor everything in its path. a cooked yolk - or no yolk - could work, too, but then you'd miss the drippy egg factor.

the original sandwich recipe boasts a cholesterol-rich calorie count of 1200 calories! this version doesn't come close - i haven't done the numbers, but can safely claim this version to be "death's door"-free.

also works on a long multigrain roll; with large romaine leaves instead of arugula; with a less pungent spread; a different cheese.

if you try it and hate it, let me know. i'll come over and make you one myself! that's how much i love this sucker.