Caprese Open Sandwich

When I dine out, I rarely order salads on the menu. Most of the time I find the choices to be boring and unappealing, not to mention our weekly menu at home consists of mainly salads. However, every now and then, when I find a restaurant that has caprese salad on the menu – a favorite of mine, I sometimes just have that as my meal and on occasions have them add grilled shrimp to it. Hmm, yum-o! It’s definitely a salad that I never tire of. And since it’s a favorite, I recently tried adapting all of its lovely ingredients into an open face sandwich (something I like to refer to as one of “my inventos”) and was pleasantly pleased how it turned out. Bonus: it’s quick and easy to pull together, especially if you wash and slice all your ingredients as soon as you get home from the grocery store. The components can be stored in the fridge, ready to assemble at a moments notice. It sure adds another variety to my afternoon lunch options that is fresh and tasty. Here’s how I went about making it…

Ingredients

4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced

1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced

Sandwich Thins whole grain sliced breads

Fresh basil leaves (washed and spun dry)

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Salt (I use coarse sea salt)

Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat your toaster oven on broil at 350 degrees

Separate the already sliced sandwich thins. Drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive on top of each slice. Then layer each slice of bread with one piece of sliced tomato, 1 basil leaf, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, then place one slice of cheese on top.

Place all your layered sandwich slices inside the toaster oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese gets fully melted and turns golden brown, not burned. Serve and enjoy with your favorite beverage or you can try this refreshing zingy cranberry spritzer.