In the American South, there are moments in midsummer of sublime satisfaction when the tomatoes start to ripen and are plucked off the vine. The moment comes only after impatient sweet anticipation while crafting the perfect ‘mater* sandwich.

To the rest of the English-speaking world, it is a tomato* sandwich.

Humble and pure, two slices of mass-produced factory bread smeared with the region’s favorite mayonnaise, a slice or two of vine-ripened tomato, with some salt and pepper, create summertime heaven on earth for many.

My favorite gluten-free bread does not live up to this image – not even a little bit. Plus, I can hardly remember when I have eaten two slices of bread at once anyway. Just too many carbs.

The mid-night visitation of belly angst from glutenous bread is just not worth it.

What to do?

There are rare times throughout the years – certainly not in 2020 – when eating at a fine restaurant with its own version of predinner slices of sourdough bread, I would indulge just so I could dip my fragrant bread into some of their fine olive oil with pesto.

I suffered no ill effects from such gluten indiscretions. Hmmm. Did the glorious atmosphere of the festive meal simply sweep side-effects away? Or was there a reason here?

Sourdough bread is a fermented food! Duh. If I made the stuff, I might have put two-and-two together.

It is fermented from lactobacillus cultures (great for the gut probiotics); but unfortunately, the cultures do not survive the baking process. However, a helpful byproduct is created: lactic acid.

Turns out, lactic acid lowers the naturally occurring phytates in grain-based bread. I refer you to page 105 of my first book, Toolkit for Wellness, where you will learn, phytates block our ability to absorb minerals from the food we eat.

So, for my tomato open-faced sandwich, the occasional bread indiscretion is well-tolerated on sourdough bread.

Let me show you what I did:

Spread some fresh homemade basil pesto onto a slice of lightly toasted sourdough bread.

Here’s the recipe for the pesto:

Sweet Basil Pesto

Pesto can be a great spread on crackers or bread, or as a great way to zip up the flavor factor in veggies, seafood, or an omelet!

Ingredients

2 cups/500 ml fresh sweet basil leaves, packed

½ cup/125 ml Parmesan, Parmesan-Reggiano, or Romano cheese, grated

½ cup/125 ml extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup/75 ml walnuts or pine nuts (activate nuts first!)

3 cloves garlic

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (I use not quite a ½ tsp/2.5 ml of Kosher Salt and about the same of black pepper)

Method

Using a food processor, pulse the nuts a few times.  Add the garlic cloves and pulse some more.  Add the basil and pulse until in fine pieces.  With the food processor fully on, slowly pour the olive oil through the shoot.  Stop to scrape the sides down and add the grated cheese.  Pulse until combined.  Add salt and pepper and pulse a few more times.

The pesto is ready to use.  I store mine in small jars and float additional olive oil on top as a seal. 

Back to the sandwich: Add slices of fresh-out-of-the-garden tomato with salt and pepper to taste.

Add slightly mashed avocado on top with salt and pepper to taste. Smashing the avocado first helps it stay in place better.

There you are.

• Less bread overall, but great bread that is even good -ish for you.
• Pesto for fragrant greenness with
• Health-promoting garlic
• Olive oil for healthy monounsaturated fat and,
• If using walnuts, omega-3s fatty acids as another anti-inflammatory
• Fresh tomato – high in heart healthy lycopene as well as vitamin C, K, potassium, and folate

The addition of avocado finishes turning this tomato sandwich into a powerhouse meal. As a transplant from California, this girl loves avocados!

• High in vitamins and minerals (remember, the sourdough bread helps our bodies absorb those minerals), avocados are naturally low in sugar and high in fiber. In fact, a great snack is one half of an avocado – keeps you full thanks to the fiber. Avocados do have fat, but it’s monounsaturated fat which is a good fat that helps lower cholesterol – when eaten in moderation.

There you have it! Something delicious and satisfying, with a yummy factor through the roof.

Many of our readers are in countries using metric math. My apologies for having ignored your needs before. An author friend of mine living in Greece was inquiring about measurements for last week’s post about iced coffee.

My coffee scoops are 12 grams each; so, a totally of 24 g coffee is used. The filtered water would be 750 ml.

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Thanks!

In health-

Deidre