Monday, October 18, 2010

favorite meals: hummus & veg sandwich

The loveliest thing about vegetables is how high you can pile them without overindulging. The other loveliest thing is all that flavor.

it's as delicious as it is pretty

some things i especially love about this meal:
- the crunchiness of the celery or pepper, which gives my tooth something to work against, which somehow makes it eat more like a meal
- the saltiness of the olives
- whole grain goodness. There's something I find almost sweet about whole grain breads, but not sugary sweet ... more like an earthy, nutty sweetness. In any case, it's got complex flavor, and it provides two servings from my daily grains food group. (Note: when I took pictures, we only had whole wheat bread in the house.)

a note on balancing points
I may add a dozen tortilla chips, with Patrick's rendition of my dad's salsa recipe (3 points all-told); an apple for dessert (1 extra point). But there was a day when eating 7 points in one sandwich (stacked with vegetables as it may be) seemed ... like a waste? Like I wasn't getting my money's worth?

This is something I'm trying to get over: the idea that I should eat as much food for as few points as possible. Because I don't know how healthy that attitude is. This sandwich is nutritious, appropriately filling. It may fit conveniently in the palm of my hand, but it's full of color, flavor.

Food satisfaction shouldn't come from hugeness, nor should it come from feats of limitation. This is, I guess, where learning balance is key. Count me as a pupil.

all dem veg, just one sammichbreads
hummus, dollophummus, spread
tomatoes: favorite vegolives: little bites of savory
these red peppers are so deliciously sweetthe feta: just enough cheese!
lookit that mess!tall, tall sandwich

hummus & veg sandwich, 6.5 points
whole grain bread (2 slices, 3 oz), 4 pts
hummus (1 1/2 oz), 1.5 pts
crunchy veg (usually celery or bell pepper) (3 oz), 0 pts
tomato (1 roma, 3 oz), 0 pts
fresh spinach (1 oz), 0 pts
olives (2, each halved), 0 pts
feta (1/2 oz), 1 pts

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