Herbing Up Your Sandwich

Ok. So it has been a year since my blog entry but I've just moved to Queen Anne and have become somewhat settled so these food blogs will become more frequent hopefully. We'll see how that goes.

So this morning is morning number five in my new apartment. I wake up, go to the gym, shower, and it's already time to make my lunch for the day. This is the first morning that I kind of get thrown for the dogs to make my own lunch. The past few mornings I would get the call from Mama Matni telling me that she had some kibbe (ground beef balls) and Lebanese grape leaves left over from Easter at my aunt's place, or teta had made some lamb and potatoes. If you're a Lebanese and you say no to the traditional stuff, your one step away from being disowned, so I agreeably say "yes, I would love some!"

This morning, no phone call.
Alright, the brainstorming begins. I had some deli meat in the fridge that probably wouldn't last much longer than a couple days so a sandwich was the best option. I pulled out the regulars from the fridge, wheat bread, the ham, pickles, cheddar cheese, and set them all up on my bread slices. I give it a good stare down and realize how plain it looks. No I need something to spice this sandwich up. Opening the fridge again, I try to think what else I could add. I saw the mustard and mayo, but I'm not a condiment kind of girl...at least not this morning, I've only been here 5 days! ok. bad joke.

Then I see that secret ingredient that gave my sandwich the much needed makeover... the cilantro. I seriously don't understand how something so small that looks like salad leaves can add so much flavor to dishes. You throw some cilantro in your salsa, whats the first flavor you taste? the cilantro. What about in a chicken dish or in a burrito? It's the first flavor that hits the palate.

So then I continue to overuse that ingredient in every aspect of my lunch. A little bit in my salad (which tasted almost as amazing as the sandwich), a few leaves on my english muffin and cream cheese this morning, I even almost went as far as to put a little in my cottage cheese and pears but I decided to rest my overanxious hands.

Who needs to spice up their food when they can herb it up?