Train food

We took the train from DC to Montreal, which meant leaving before dawn and arriving just before sunset. This may come as a surprise to HS, but I sometimes get a wee bit cranky when my blood sugar drops. Therefore, I wanted to make sure we had ample provisions for the long day. Breakfast was my mom's pumpkin-walnut bread, and lunch was Pan Bagna. This is another great recipe from the Teany cookbook, and one of my favorite sandwiches ever (have you not bought the cookbook yet? Come on, it's only $4.99!). It is perfect for travel because it is meant to be smushed. It provided a totally satisfying lunch and kept things rosy through a train derailment and subsequently being rushed to the Canadian border by a Hell's Angel who passed every car on the road...in a tour bus.

Pan Bagna (makes 2 colossal sandwiches)
Ingredients
1 baguette or ciabatta bread
black olive spread/ tapenade
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 jar roasted red peppers, rinsed and cut into manageable strips
a few good handfuls of spinach or arugula, rinsed and dried
1 bunch of basil (don't leave this out), leaves taken off the stems, rinsed and dried
2 or 3 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper

Slice the bread the long way. Spread the olive tapenade on the bottom slice of bread. Layer the following on the bottom slice, in this order: chopped red onion, basil, sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper (be generous with the salt), roasted red pepper, and spinach/arugula. Drizzle the vinegar on the top of the spinach and drizzle olive oil on the underside of the other slice of bread. Put the oiled bread on top of the other piece and press down firmly. Wrap that puppy in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to a day.