day 2 – take your lunch to work

Before I get to today’s brown bag recipe, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with this site yesterday. The bad news is that it was down between about 2:00 and 5:00 pm as people (including me) received an error message stating that there was not enough bandwidth. What is bandwidth, you ask?  I have absolutely no idea. I even looked it up and read THIS, and I still don’t fully understand. So I emailed my super-duper tech guy. He kindly added more bandwidth to my site and I was back in business.

The good news – running out of my allotted amount of monthly bandwidth before the month is up (even if it is on the last day of the month) means my viewership is growing and that excites me very much indeed.  And that is thanks to all of you! I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart! xoxo

Today’s brown bag lunch recipe is a jazzed-up version of an all-time favorite, the BLT.  This is the BELT, and the E is for the egg that is added in. The only problem is when I made this for Dave and myself the other night… yeah… I forgot the lettuce. So the pictures reflect a BET instead of a BELT. No matter, it was delicious even without the lettuce!

Since the sandwich includes hard-cooked eggs, a bagel seemed like a natural choice for the bread. I made one each way, the first with a toasted bagel and the other with toasted multi-grain bread. I preferred the bagel and Dave preferred the bread. You choose for yourself, or just make them both ways and enjoy half of each. Then share the rest with a favorite co-worker. Trust me, that person will be your friend for life after they’ve filled their growling tummy with your tasty generosity!

If you want to make only one sandwich, boil 2 eggs instead of three. Only mash 1/2 of one of the eggs for the spread and slice the remaining 1 1/2 for the sandwich. Cut the amount of all of the remaining ingredients by half.

Lastly, as long as you’re frying up bacon, fry extra. It freezes great and then you won’t have to make a mess the next time you’re craving this sandwich… oh, and you will be craving it!

Brown-bag packing tip: To prevent your delicious sandwich from becoming a nasty soggy mess – pack the tomato slices separately in a snack-size zip-lock or just bring the whole tomato to work and slice there. Slip the tomato in at the last minute and you’re set!

BELT (Bacon Egg Lettuce and Tomato) Sandwiches

3 eggs
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced chives, divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 strips of bacon, cooked crisp
2 large Romaine leaves
2 medium ripe tomatoes, sliced
4 slices of multi-grain bread or 2 bagels, split; toasted

Place the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes.

Transfer the eggs to a bowl filled with ice water and let cool.

Peel the eggs, place only one of the eggs in a bowl, and mash with a fork, mixing in the mayonnaise, mustard, and 1 tablespoon of the chives.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Thinly slice the remaining two eggs.

Assemble the sandwiches by first spreading 1 side of each of the slices of bread or bagels with the mashed egg salad.  Then layer on the remaining ingredients, dividing equally between the two sandwiches. Finish by sprinkling with the remaining 1 tablespoon of chives and slap the two sides together.

Slice each sandwich in half and serve.

Makes 2