Eggless & Olives Sandwich

When I was a kid, one of the sandwiches my mother loved to make was something we called eggs and olives. It was basically an egg salad made with loads of green olives. I’ve never been an egg lover, but this sandwich was a favorite because there’s so much good olive flavor.

Alex doesn’t like olives, so this is something I will get to enjoy all by myself. Although I’ve made a great tempeh not-chicken salad, I wanted to veganize eggs and olives by using tofu. You don’t really need a recipe, but I checked out a tofu "egg" salad recipe.

I don’t have a recipe to share with you because I didn’t make any precise measurements. Basically, I pressed a block of firm tofu, kept half for another recipe, and diced half for this salad. I used Vegenaise and mixed in some of the liquid from my jarred green olives, along with some turmeric and cumin. Then I folded in the tofu and copious sliced green olives. That’s it.

I actually made this last night and enjoyed a sandwich for lunch today, on toast, with lettuce and a generous sprinkle of seasoned salt.

I eat lunch at home almost every day, so it’s great that I don’t have to buy a ready-made lunch, but sometimes I get weary of eating leftovers, especially when I don’t want two hot meals in a day. I doubt I’ll eat eggless and olives often, but it’s a nice treat and it’s comforting to enjoy a better version of a longtime favorite. (The Beanie Burger Biscuit Pie is coming, I promise, as soon as it’s oven weather again.)

I’ve never met anyone else who has heard of this kind of sandwich. What do you think, is this weirdo food? Mother, are you reading this? How did you come up with this? Would you try it with tofu?

Restaurant: Myra’s Dionysus

I’ve been to Myra’s Dionysus twice recently, and so I have photos from two wonderful meals to share with you. This is one of the restaurants I went to soon after moving to Cincinnati because it comes up quickly on a Google search for vegetarian food, but it’s become a quick favorite.

Myra’s is in Clifton, near the University of Cincinnati. They’ve been celebrating their 30th anniversary for three years, 1977 – 2007. The menu has an introduction to the restaurant written by Myra herself and it highlights some of the interesting things about the place. For instance, it’s mainly Greek foods, but it’s not limited to a specific theme. And there are eight soups every day. Any many people – not just professional chefs – are trained to cook the menu items.

They have a small dining room and a small outdoor patio. When Alex and I went, we sat out back and enjoyed a leisurely dinner and a glass of wine. Yes, they serve beer and wine. And it’s just as reasonably priced as the food.

The food is inexpensive and the portions are reasonable, so you can get a soup and and a sandwich or a salad and an entree without being overloaded. On this trip, I ordered a plate that is half hummus, half tabouli, and it was delicious, served with a couple of olives, lots of fresh ripe tomatoes, and plenty of wheat pita. This crazy tablecloth may actually be an original from 1977, and that’s okay by me.

Half hummus, half tabouli, $4.00

Alex and I did share this, but I ate most of it because he got his own salad, I think. He also ordered what they call the PC burger, but I only got one blurry photo of it. That’s one of several vegetarian but not vegan choices. He’s becoming a connoisseur of veggie burgers and he really enjoyed it. I got a falafel salad, which was dressed with a lemon tahini dressing and it was absolutely delicious. It looks simple, and it is, but I’ve stopped making fried falafel at home because it’s just too much trouble to use that much oil and then clean up.

Falafel salad, $5.50

I would also like to clarify that although these look like they might be disposable plates, they’re not. No waste here.

On my next, most recent visit, we sat inside. You can see directly into the kitchen both from some of the tables and right as you enter the restaurant. Either inside or outdoors, this is one of those places that just makes me feel comfortable being there. Also note the changing list of available soups – there are also knitted hats along the entryway representing the various soups. They’re all described in the menu and the vegan ones are clearly identified.

This trip was after my delightful wheatberry salad from Third Avenue Cafe, so when I saw they were featuring a wheatberry salad with black eyed peas, I couldn’t resist. You know I love black eyed peas. This salad also includes dried cranberries, onion, garlic, mint, and the lemon tahini dressing. This was good, but the onion and garlic were rough on my breath!

Wheatberry and black eyed pea salad, $3.00

I also selected the baked tofu sandwich, which intrigued me because it was described as being marinated in kecap manis and lime, which is a sort of sweet soy sauce usually found in Indonesian food. It was a thick sauce, but the portion was perfect to flavor the tofu. Again, it looks simple, and it was, but the taste was great.

Marinated tofu sandwich, $5.50

My friends enjoyed their dishes, too, including potato soup, a cheese pita, and a gyro. One of my friends is only employed part-time and asked that we try to keep dinner cheap. Myra’s really fit the bill, but we didn’t compromise on taste at all, and we all had pages and pages of choices. I’ll have to see where we’ll go next and if it does as good a job at pleasing us all.

Grilled Pizza and Homemade Pesto

In the summer heat, I decided to grill a pizza so I could have homemade pizza without having to turn on the oven. I adapted Ina Garten’s recipe and used only whole-wheat flour, yeast, warm water, and olive oil and rolled it into two pies. I followed her directions and cooked the dough on the grill first, a few minutes per side, then Alex and I each topped our own.

I think next time (and yes, there will be a next time!) I would start with the toppings on the crusts. The only drawback I can see is that it might be too difficult to transport the fully topped raw dough to the grill. The dough puffed up, and by the time I was trying to heat my toppings, the bottom was close to burning.

I pre-cooked my toppings on the stovetop: red bell pepper, onion, and cremini mushrooms. I also made a pesto from my homegrown basil plus almonds, olive oil, roasted garlic, and salt. This was a delicious base for the pizza. Finally, I topped it with some pitted calmata olives.

This was a delicious pizza, and I think you can see in my photo how crisp the dough was. I rolled it out thinly, but I am still perfecting my circle formation. Tastes the same, though.

I’m ready to grill pizzas again, and soon! What are your favorite toppings? I think I want to do one with black beans and salsa next.