Vegetable Picnic Sandwiches
The idea for this came from and old Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery that we’ve had since we were first married. As usual, it has been modifies for our taste and for ease of preparation. These are nice, light, summer sandwiches that we often take to Ravinia, an outdoor summer music theater that is known for on-the-lawn picnics. Natalie makes up the filling and we put it in the cooler. We split the bread on-site and spray it with olive oil and put in the filling, thus avoiding soggy sandwiches.
Vegetable Picnic Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 12 French rolls
- 2 red onions diced fine
- 2 green peppers diced fine
- 2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded and diced fine
- 4 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced fine
- 40 pitted black or Kalamata olives, chopped (1 can, 6 oz. drained)
- 24 anchovy fillets, chopped (1 small tin)
- 1 3 oz. jar of capers
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley
- Arugula if desired
- Mayonnaise (Smart Balance Light)
Instructions
- Chop all the vegetables except the arugula as directed (1/4 dice or less).
- Combine all the vegetables except the arugula. Mix well.
- Add just enough mayonnaise to moisten and continue mixing.
- When you are ready to serve, Split each roll almost all the way through.
- Spray or brush the inside of the roll with olive oil, add some arugula leaves if desired and then spoon in the filling.
Notes
You can adjust the ingredients to your taste. Substitute Anchovy Paste for the Anchovies if desired.
You probably won't need to add salt as the olives, anchovies and capers provide enough salt.
The arugula is a later addition to the recipe as I had a lot of it growing, but it really adds to the flavor.
If we are going on a picnic, we usually carry the veggie mixture separately, and assemble the rolls onsite to avoid having soggy bread.