Ever since I was a young girl, I loved tomatoes. Actually, that’s an understatement. In fact, I went an entire year eating only tomato soup, green beans and Cheerios. Not kidding. So you might think I’d be sick of them. Nope, I still savor sweet, juicy tomatoes. Biting into those succulent little orbs tastes like summer.

As a kid, I used to nosh on tomato sandwiches. Nothing fancy, just tomatoes on white bread, slathered with mayonnaise. Now that I’m all grown up, I still crave those sandwiches, with vegan mayo of course! But I thought it would be fun to pizazz them up.

Spinach imbues the sandwich with color and texture. I swapped out boring white bread for toasted ciabatta, Italian white bread.  Yielding a dense crust with a tender, porous texture inside, it soaks up all the delish dressing. And speaking of the dressing, I pour it over salads as well as garnish sandwiches with it. With a slight hint of sweetness from the balsamic, it’s creamy, tart and tangy. The acidity of the lemon juice and delicate aroma of the dill brighten all the flavors.

These grown-up tomato sandwiches hearken back to my childhood days while satiating my adult inner foodie.

Grown-Up Tomato Sandwiches

1 small loaf of ciabatta
1 cup baby spinach leaves
2 vine-ripened tomatoes
Salt & pepper
Balsamic Dijon Lemon Dressing

Dressing

3 tablespoons Vegenaise vegan mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dill

Directions:

1. Slice loaf of ciabatta in half lengthwise. Then cut widthwise so you have 4 equal pieces. Toast in oven on 400 degrees F for 3-4 minutes on each side to make bread crispy.

2. In a small bowl, combine Vegenaise or other vegan mayo, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar and dill. Mix well with a fork or whisk. Set dressing aside.

3. Cut tomatoes into thin slices. Sprinkle small amount of salt and pepper on top of tomatoes. Set aside.

4. Remove bread from oven. Slather each slice of bread with approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of dressing.

5. Place 1/2 cup of spinach leaves on two of the bread slices. Place tomato slices on top of the spinach. Top with slice of bread.

6. Cut each sandwich in half lengthwise.

Yields 2 sandwiches

Bon appétit