A cold sandwich to help beat the heat

It…is…SO hot here. I mean, HOT. It’s hot, too. Have I mentioned it’s hot? And I’ll tell you one other thing: it’s HOT! I’m melting. I’m thinking that Vogue magazine should run a feature on Gonzales summer accessories:  a bottle of water, an ice pack and oxygen tank because without them you can almost bet that you’ll be spending all your day sweltering to death. Ugh.
A week ago some friends and I decided that it would be a great idea to have a garage sale and purge years of clothes, toys, absolutely USELESS knick knacks and in my case something just shy of 3 million coffee cups. In order to unearth said coffee cups meant that I was going to have to face some truths. Truth one: I should never gotten a storage unit- it’s like a new purse; no matter the size- you will fill it. Truth 2: after 5 years of drive up, toss In, close door & forget: I could be a candidate for the show “ Hoarders” and finally the undeniable Truth three: I NEEDED SOME HELP. Somehow I roped my friend Dave, who is always full of energy, to come help. He kept saying “it can’t be that bad” until the door opened and he said “Sarah Beth! What have you done!!?” After a somewhat lengthy lecture on my particular style of stacking we went through that thing like Tasmanian devils. Nothing like working in a metal box in the hottest part of the day on one of the hottest days this summer. It was nothing like Christmas or your birthday. It was flat out miserable. Finally with all things puts in proper boxes and sorted we closed it up and headed home right around supper time. Needless to say by that time I couldn’t even THINK about cooking hot, steamy food in a hot, steamy kitchen. Psychologically, emotionally, gastro intestinally, there was only one thing on earth I could think of to eat.
A  COLD sandwich hailing back to my shop that we called the hippie chick. The Cast of Characters: Everything bagels, Cream Cheese, Green Onions, Carrots, Red Peppers, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Avocado, Red Onion, cold thinly sliced chicken breast, Alfalfa Sprouts, Pepper jack cheese with just a dash of hot sauce. You could add whatever other cheese or veggies make your skirt fly up. I’m not sure I’ve ever made it the same way twice!
First thing I did was make my veggie cream cheese, which once you taste you WILL NEVER look at plain the same way ( or at all, it will be like that mop commercial where he looks sadly on the newer model that’s ousted him). I like to roughly chop red peppers, green onions, carrots and cream cheese -toss them in to a food processor with a little roasted garlic, onion powder and salt and let the magic happen. Keep in mind that green onions are pretty dang strong. But I like ‘em that way. I keep my finished cream cheese in a ball jar, but anything will work!
I tend to keep baked Buddy’s organic chicken breasts in my fridge for sandwich meat. So that made it an easy heat free arrangement! Sliced et Voila.
Next, I sliced my veggies! I get mine from all local farmers, since the last time I   went to the store every single tomato was from another COUNTRY. For shame, for shame. There is no excuse for that. And next year, people, let me warn you: You are all going to plant at least one tomato plant. You WILL do it—I shall see to it. Bwahahaha (read: tomato mastermind laugh) Because a tomato straight off the vine? Well, it’s…it’s…it’s a tomato straight off the vine. As usual I digress, back to slicing. I l-o-v-e sliced red onions (thin of course) avocado, cucumber and thick sliced tomato! YUM. You know, I said use an everything bagel….and it’s really the best choice, but you could, I guess if you absolutely had to..use something else. NO raisin. It’s disrespectful to put fruit in a bagel to begin with, and it simply does not work.
Without dispersing a bit of heat (since I was literally soaked through & out of oxygen), I whipped together the perfect dinner. Sliced my bagel, schmeared my veggie spread on both sides, added my sliced veggies, sprouts, chicken and cheese. If you haven’t yet become obsessed with pepper jack cheese, it’s time to start today! Then for the piece de resistance I hit it with a little Texas Pete for some zip. Thank God for the cold sandwich, or dinner would have consisted of ice cubes!  I was fed and in bed in a matter of minutes. Exactly the right combo when facing the dreaded garage sale!!
When the heat index goes back down to something under 400 degrees, try adding some grilled veggies- it is an oh so delicious addition. Like I said, I don’t think I’ve ever made this the same way twice!!

Here is my recipe for The Hippie Chick.
Please make it and eat it in good health!

HIPPIE CHICK
• ½ blocks Of Cream Cheese
• 2 whole (to 3) Green Onions
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 carrot
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Avocado
• Red Onion
• 1 whole Everything Bagel (or Any Kind Of Bagel)
• Alfalfa Sprouts
• Several pieces of thinly sliced chicken breast
• 1 Or 2 Slices Pepper jack Cheese
• Texas Pete to taste
Follow directions above for veggie cream cheese
Slice all veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, red onions) thinly.
Slice bagel in half. Spread the cream cheese generously on both sides of the bagel.
Layer the vegetables. First lay the avocados right along the cream cheese to help them stay put. Next the alfalfa sprouts the chicken, then two thin slices of pepper jack cheese. On the other half of the bagel arrange the cucumber slices in a circle. Next lay the onion slices on top of the cucumbers, then the tomatoes, followed by a big dash of Texas Pete
Put the whole thing together, cut in two and enjoy!