Turkey Sandwich Recipe Contest

With the exception of lamb, I love anything Mediterranean, including all the intricate flavors and healthy ingredients found in the region's cuisine.  If your market doesn't carry them, go to a Mediterranean or Greek market or use the recipes below to make the sandwich toppings. 

Of course 'fresh' is always great and 'homemade' even better.  Making your own toppings is much cheaper plus you know exactly what goes into them.  For your convenience I have listed the ingredients required for each sandwich 'topping' together with the directions in each section.  I hope it is less confusing that way.

MEDITERRANEAN-INSPIRED TURKEY ENSEMBLE SANDWICH

Ingredients:

2 Packages of fresh pita bread (or use recipe below)

1.5 pounds of cooked turkey, thinly sliced

Toppings:

1 cup Tzatziki sauce (recipe below)

2 cups Hummus (recipe below)

2 cups Baba Ganoush (recipe below)

3 cups Potato Salad (recipe below)

3 to 4 cups marinated Cabbage (recipe below)

6 cups Tomato/cucumber Salad (recipe below) 

1 cup 'any heat' jarred Red Tomato Salsa

Kosher salt for seasoning and table

Sandwich Assembly Directions:

Sandwiches are assembled by cutting (or ripping) a pita in half, opening it up, adding turkey and any combination of the above toppings.  Serve the toppings so they are within arm's reach of everybody.  If you have a big crowd, put out multiple dishes of toppings for every four people. 

My favorite combo is with the pita, turkey, cabbage, tomato/cucumber salad, baba ganoush and tzatziki sauce.   Sometimes I just add everything and every bite is totally amazing.  The purists may prefer to add only one or two toppings to a quarter pita at a time and switch around trying different combos or eating toppings as side dishes, so set the table with silverware.  It's delicious no matter how you build your sandwich.  People are amazed to see that they like 'vegetables' after all.  (Sure beats that old lettuce leaf and tomato slice.)

This may seem like a very elaborate sandwich and it is, but must the best things in life always be simple? 

My sandwich gives guests 'options'  with lots of flavor, and it is so packed with nutrition they can skip their vitamins for a few days.  You can also cut up the leftover pitas into chip-size pieces, bake them for 20 minutes and use them with the leftover toppings for the next day's appetizers.

If you can't find one topping (like the Tzatziki sauce, hummus or baba ganoush) you can omit it without creating a Greek tragedy. (I apologize in advance for that terrible attempt at cleverness.:)

So forewarned, if you are not a garlic lover, don't read any further.  Oh, and for the rest of you real men and women out there?  Three things really help with garlic blow-back.  1) Roasting the garlic, 2) chewing fennel seeds after eating it or 3) making sure your friends eat as much garlic as you do.

Assume each person will want two to three pieces of pita, by the way.  Some things need to be made ahead, but nothing should be stored too long before serving, with the exception of Tahini. Tahini is sold canned but if you make it fresh it can be refrigerated and stored for weeks.

This recipe serves a crowd so have extra Pitas just in case your guests don't go home when expected - hoping to score leftovers.

Pita Bread

Ingredients: 

2 TB dry yeast (2 packages), 1 quart warm water, 2 TB oil, 12 cups flour, 1 TB salt 

Directions: Preheat oven and a cookie sheet to 450 degrees Farenheit.  Dissolve the yeast in water for approximately five minutes.  Add the other ingredients and knead until a dough ball can be formed.  Place the dough in a greased bowl to rise for 45 minutes.  Divide the dough into 24 balls and cover with a damp dishtowel.  Roll out 4 pitas at a time and bake them on the hot cookie sheet for five minutes.  Place the warm pitas in a bread basket inside a cloth napkin to keep them warm while you bake the remaining pitas or create a riot and let people start making their 'sandwiches' right away.

Tzatziki Sauce

2 cups plain, unsweetened yogurt (no NOT vanilla)

1/2 cucumber, peeled and grated roughly 

1 Tablespoon roasted, crushed garlic

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 pinches of salt 

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

5 finely chopped mint leaves (some people prefer a hint of dill, but 1/2 teaspoon) 

Okay, Gather Citizens, I give you the secret of wonderful Tzatziki Sauce:  Using a kitchen strainer, drain the yogurt overnight in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.  This will remove a great deal of the liquid and make your Tzatziki sauce just the right consistency - not runny and messy when you try to eat it.   Next, add the garlic, lemon and cucumber and mix.  Cover the sauce and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Hummus

2 cans (15.5 oz size) garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

2/3 cup roasted tahini (fresh or canned)

Juice from 2 large lemons (1/3 cup)

1/4 cup of olive oil 

1/2 cup of water 

Parsley and pine nuts for garnish (optional)

Kosher salt to taste 

This is a snap.  Peeled, mashed garlic goes into the food processor (or blender) first with a quickie blend, then pop in all the other ingredients but salt.  Pulse it quickly until it is a puree, but don't mash it to death.   End with the salt, adding it 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you get the desired saltiness.  You can also add in all kinds of things like sundried tomatoes, sweet basil, serious garlic quantities or canellini beans for variation, but I like the standard hummus best.

Tahini (also called Tahina) (An ingredient  in Baba Ganoush below)

5 cups sesame seeds

1.5 cups olive oil 

For those of you who couldn't find the Tahini in the Jewish, Ethnic Foods, Deli or Mediterranean sections of your market, don't worry.  The recipe is easy.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Toast the sesame seeds for 5 to 10 minutes in a pan with deep sides so you can move them around with a spatula to keep them from browning or scorching.  Then cool them for 20 minutes – do not skip this part, okay? 

Pour the cooled seeds into a blender and then drizzle in the oil as you blend. Blend until the consistency is a thick puree.  Whatever you don’t use in the Baba Ganoush can be stored in a tightly covered container for up to three months.

Baba Ganoush

2 large, fat eggplants (about 1.5 to 2 pounds)

3 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice 

2 teaspoons roasted, crushed garlic

3 Tablespoons of Tahini

1/8 cup of finely chopped parsley 

2 Tablespoons of olive oil (optional)

1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)

1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts

Baba Ganoush is not called 'Mediterranean Caviar' for nothing, as its sensuously earthy flavor and texture is indescribable. The braggarts who make this dish claim to 'smoke' the eggplant but regardless of how it gets roasted, the eggplant tastes amazing when prepared this way.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.  Do not peel or cut the eggplants, but poke them on all sides and bake for 30 minutes. When cooked, cut the eggplants in half and remove all the inside flesh, discarding the skin.  Process the eggplant until it is a smooth puree, adding the lemon juice a little at a time.  Set aside while you mash the garlic and mix with the salt, then mix into the eggplant/lemon mixture along with the tahini.  Cool the mixture in the refrigerator. 

The Baba Ganoush is normally drizzled with olive oil before the parsley and pine nut garnish is added to its center.  Some like the more glistening appearance of the oil, but I generally leave it out for calorie considerations. The flavor is delicious either way, so it probably doesn't matter.   

Potato Salad

1 cup chopped dill pickles

1/2 cup diced cooked carrots and cooked peas

2 cups commercial or homemade potato salad with mayonnaise or mustard base 

Chop and drain the pickles on paper towels pressing down until the extra juice is mostly gone.  Mix all ingredients together gently, then cover and refrigerator until ready to serve.

Marinated Cabbage 

1 head red or green cabbage, or half a head of each separated

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

1.5 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

Buy a big head of cabbage with lots of outer leaves.  Remove all the old, dried out leaves and use only the inside ones.  Slice the cabbage thinly and scatter the kosher salt liberally on the cabbage, tossing it to cover.  Set aside for twenty minutes.  If you like a crunchy topping, use the red cabbage.  If you prefer something that wilts a little more, use the green.  Don’t mix the cabbages together, however, as the difference would be a little disconcerting.

After the cabbage has wilted slightly, mix the lemon juice and olive oil together and toss with the cabbage mixture several times. Let the cabbage marinate for an hour or two if you have time, turning it often so that it wilts evenly.

To my amazement teenage boys at my house have scarfed this marinated cabbage on pita bread as an appetizer, none of whom I had ever seen eat a cooked vegetable before. 

Tomato/Cucumber Salad

3 or 4 large Tomatoes, thickly chopped and diced

2 Cucumbers, thickly sliced and diced

1 sweet Onion, thinly sliced and chopped

Juice of one or two big Lemons, or at least 6 Tablespoons

2 Tablespoons of Olive oil 

4 tablespoons fresh full leaf Parsley, finely chopped  

3/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed, roasted Garlic (optional) 

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, salt and garlic together until the salt has dissolved.  Then add mixture to chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and onion and mix together gently.  Let the mixture marinate for at least an hour before serving.  Do not make this a day ahead as the tomatoes do not hold up well for more than half a day with the lemon/olive oil dressing.

That’s it, folks.