On Tomato Sandwiches
Eat to Thrive #4: Level up the Southern classic with a homemade dijonnaise recipe and learn how to put your bread to the fiber test.
You might say that nothing is wrong with a classic tomato sandwich. And it is not worth arguing with tradition (or Southerners, for that matter). I grew up watching my Mississippi-raised father slather mayonnaise on white bread and adorn it with mediocre beefsteak tomato slices.
“Soooo good.” But are they? To get chefy about it, the tomato sandwich - while notorious - begs for improvement (sorry, Dad). Better bread, tomatoes, and, if you dare, homemade mayonnaise.
Exhibit A:
Please allow me to explain:
White bread. It sticks stubbornly to the roof of your mouth and spikes your insulin like nobody’s business. Routine consumption of refined carbohydrates can lead to all manner of metabolic diseases.
Run-of-the-mill grocery store tomatoes. Most are picked green and artificially ripened with ethylene gas. Yum.
Mayonnaise. Truly one of life’s greatest pleasures. But often subpar in flavor and loaded with inflammatory fat and excessive salt.
Call me crazy; I can take it. Shopping lists at the ready.
Why Most Bread Sucks
Most loaves of bread at the grocery store are junk food—even packages boasting “whole grain” on the label. Whole wheat flour is processed and ground so finely that the wheatberries have lost many of their redeeming qualities. The earth-given nutrients, intact fiber, and flavor from the outer bran and germ are stripped or dismantled in the factory. Commercially-produced bread is so lacking that synthetic vitamins are added back in to prevent society-wide nutritional deficiencies and their associated diseases. Insert head shaking.
The result is a textureless, tasteless slice of starch. Many loaves from your local bakery are not much better because they start with the same refined flour. Even sourdough is typically made with bleached wheat flour. For the record, I love an artisan sourdough and occasionally seek one out. But in the name of pleasure, not health.
Smart Bread Shopping
As this chef sees it, bread can be fiber-rich and flavorful with a satisfying bite. And you don’t have to mix and knead and proof and shape and bake (unless you want to) if you are willing to invest a few minutes reading labels. And perhaps a few more dollars at the register.
Skip preservatives and keep your bread in the refrigerator. Many Big Bread brands contain additives like potassium bromate or ammonium sulfate for shelf stability. This is so corporations don’t have to refrigerate or freeze loaves before you buy them, which costs more than room-temperature storage.
Look for nut, seed, and ancient grain ingredients. Even in its purest form, whole wheat flour isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Look for a blend of ancient grains and whole seeds in the ingredient list and visibly on the slices. Stone-ground grains will be less refined and a sign of a heartier bread.
Avoid added sugar. Traditional breadmaking uses sugar to jumpstart yeast fermentation. But sugar is not essential; it is simply an accelerant (yeast can feed on the starch in flour; it just lengthens the process). Many slices contain nearly a full teaspoon of sugar, more than should be left after the yeast feast. Skip loaves with more than one gram of sugar per slice. As with all processed food, sugar is a cheap, addictive shortcut by the seller.
Do the fiber math. In a lecture I attended last month, Dr. Robert Lustig, a well-known pediatric endocrinologist and author of “Metabolical” and “Fat Chance,” recommends a fiber-to-carbohydrate ratio in bread of 1 to 5 at minimum. His logic is that a wheat berry is around 25 percent fiber from the husk. And so should be “whole grain” bread.
For visual learners, it looks like this on the Nutrition Facts label:
Finding Tomatoes That Taste Like Tomatoes
If your thumb is faint green at best and gardening is not your jive, head to the farmer’s market or local co-op for truly ripe tomatoes. You will know one when you taste one. The botanical fruit is juicier than a Valencia orange, and one bite induces culinary nirvana.
Exhibit B:
If a good market is not in play, look for heirloom tomatoes at your favorite retailer when in season (summer in most locales). Unlike mass-produced varieties, they are allowed to ripen on the vine and are often sourced (somewhat) locally. Always store tomatoes at room temperature.
Choosing & Making Mayonnaise
Most jarred mayonnaise is made with soybean oil, even brands with bottles that claim otherwise. Just because “made with olive oil” is on the front label doesn’t mean olive is the only oil. It is added to justify a higher price but is often not the main or only one in the mix. Please don’t fall for it. Here are the ingredients for Hellmann’s “with Olive Oil Mayonnaise Dressing.” Olive oil isn’t even the winning oil by weight. Misleading? I think so.
Read the back of the label. It is where the dirty details are hiding. Look for ones that contain olive, canola, or avocado oil, and keep the salt content respectable, 100 grams or less per serving. If this sounds like a near-impossible task (and you would be right), whip up a light, creamy, tangy special sauce at home in minutes (recipe below).
If you have an immersion blender, you can do it with your eyes closed.
Edible Epilogue
As for the ginormous elephant egg in the room, yes, classical culinary mayonnaise calls for raw eggs or egg yolks. And no, the vinegar or lemon juice does not kill off harmful bacteria as much as it inhibits growth.
So, know your risk and risk tolerance. Retail eggs in American grocery stores are susceptible to salmonella contamination. Thanks to the farmer's care, local eggs are less likely to harbor bad germs. If you are a healthy individual serving fully-grown healthy individuals, enjoy real mayonnaise, Caesar salad, and eggs over easy. Exercise caution for younger, pregnant, or immune-compromised eaters.
Zooming out, eggs are not a lone villain in the war against salmonella. In recent history, you are more likely to endure salmonella poisoning from cantaloupes, cucumbers, peanut butter, onions, and basil. So, will I risk it to enjoy a luscious, silky, garlicky mayonnaise that levels up my Southern tomato sandwich? You bet your dozen I will.
Eat + be well,
Christina
P.S. Layer microgreens or basil leaves between your tomato slices. The added color, flavor, and texture are worth the thirty seconds it takes.
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