Sandwich cake with whole wheat or rye bread: vegetarian and scrumptious

Time:         prep. 30 mins
                   cook. 10 mins for veggies
Difficulty:  very easy
Yields:       8 portions
Cost:          medium-low
 

I still can’t believe it but today is CHE Food Revolution‘s birthday, two years old!
I am really proud of my creature that hosts every day a large number of people looking for information, advice and encouragement, and from all over the world: More than 100 articles divided between Food Awareness, DIY and Recipes, are read from Italy to Turkey; from the United States to India; from Germany to Australia, with growing interest and sincere appreciation. As I said, I feel fully satisfied with the success and the acclaim received; even if obviously we are never enough for the longed-for mission: to bring a decisive change on the trend of production, distribution and consumption of food products, all over the world.
As the poet said “Optimism is the scent of life”; so today I’m only looking at the achievements of course thanks to you, dear readers, who every day of the week provide me with precious encouragement; thank you for your continuous moral and economic support: you are all very generous and eager to carry on the Revolution.
So let’s celebrate the happy event together with this beautiful sandwich cake: after all, you know very well that I am not a lover of sweets.
A cake of great effect, both for the eyes and for the palate, something for which the diners always shower me with compliments.
 

Ingredients for sandwich cake

a package of whole wheat or rye sandwich bread with organic flour and olive oil (if you can find artisan bread, much better)
250 g organic ricotta cheese, mixed with 100 g Greek yogurt (if you want a reliable thick yogurt recipe, read here)
250 g feta and 150 g Greek yogurt (or 400 g spreadable cheese vegan or not) – for icing
100 g vegan mayonnaise (this recipe with aquafaba is really great)
3 big carrots or 1 big beet or 2 zucchini – for decoration
2 hard-boiled eggs (optional, I don’t put)
200 ml of lentil sprouts (read here to learn how to prepare them at home)
200 g of hummus (see the perfect recipe here)
200 g of guacamole (find the original recipe here)
100 g of sun-dried tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil
100 g of boiled sweet peas
100 g of lacto-fermented sauerkraut (read the easy recipe here)
200 g boiled cauliflowers seasoned with salt, olive oil and lemon juice
200 g boiled mushrooms seasoned with salt, olive oil and lemon juice
some red pepper and some parsley leaves (for decorating, optional)

Directions

First of all prepare your sauces such as hummus and guacamole: this is a cake for festive occasions, so even if salty it must be sumptuous; mind you, the flavors marry well, but feel free to use the sauce you love most, alone or in combination with others.
And don’t worry if you don’t have the time or the right ingredients: substituting raw materials will not change the highly successful result.
So if you don’t have chickpeas ready in the freezer for hummus, use beans or lentils; there is no tahini (find out how to prepare it at home here)? Replace it with peanut or almond butter.
Or are you in crisis because you don’t know how to choose the avocado for guacamole? No problem, just read these tips. Not the right season (in our hemisphere, avocados grow from October to March)? Next time learn here how you can store it year-round.
Similar considerations apply to all other ingredients: Don’t have lentil sprouts? Any other kind, such as broccoli, alpha alpha or mung beans, will do. Don’t have them ready? Then you can increase the amount of peas or sauerkraut for both the same crunch and the missing protein.
If it’s not winter, you can also use fresh tomatoes.
Exactly like replacing cauliflower with eggplant or grilled peppers, depending on the season.
In fact, the savory sandwich cake serves as a perfect strategy for using leftovers; in this way we will reduce food waste (to understand the drama of the situation and to learn how to improve it you can read this valuable article).
What to do when you don’t have carrots for decoration? Nothing simpler: zucchini or beets are fine, or even a colorful mix; the important thing is that the vegetables chosen are in season (to learn why this is required you can read here).
 

Once you’ve decided on the ingredients for the sandwich cake filling, wash the vegetables.
Boil or steam the cauliflower, mushrooms, peas and so on and leave them to cool. Squeeze a little lemon into the cooking water of the mushrooms to prevent oxidation and subsequent blackening.
Cut the beets, or carrots (or zucchini) into wide strips using a simple potato peeler; boil the strips (destined for decoration) for 2 or 3 minutes: this will be enough as they are very thin.
In the meantime, cook two hard-boiled eggs if you want to; once cold, cut them into slices.
When the sauces and the vegetables of the filling are ready and at room temperature, start forming the gorgeous sandwich cake.
The whole wheat and artisanal sandwich bread I used didn’t have a crust; if your bread still have the crust, cut them finely and set aside: they will come in handy as croutons for soups (especially with this red lentil soup); or breadcrumbs (not wasting bread is a civic duty, learn here many yummy ways to avoid it).

Extra tip

If you don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen, I recommend using the pressure cooker: in addition to halving cooking time, it uses less energy, which is great for both your utility bills and the environment.
Personally, I use it to cook many things, including legumes (read here the most complete guide on how to cook dried legumes); pasta (don’t turn your nose up at it, not even my dear mother-in-law, who is very Italian, can tell the difference); and whole grain risotto.
But probably its ace in the hole comes from the fact that by reducing the cooking time thanks to high pressure, it also decreases the inevitable damage to nutrients, which are thermolabile.
In addition, some research suggests that the best way to preserve nutrients is to cook faster, despite higher temperatures (^{1, 2}).
At this point you have no more excuses!

Now start filling the sandwich bread slices with a veil of ricotta cheese, a spoonful of guacamole and whatever you want to pair, I like it with eggs or sauerkraut; then lay another bread slice on top filled with a veil of ricotta cheese on both sides which you will top with another mix. Once again, you are free to use only one mix. You can also give it a shape of rectangular or a square.
I personally really like the following combinations:

– hummus, cauliflower and sun-dried tomatoes;
– hummus, sauerkraut and beets;
– hummus, eggs and sun-dried tomatoes;
– guacamole and eggs;
– guacamole and sauerkraut;
– guacamole, peas and basil;
– aquafaba mayonnaise, peas, carrots and mushrooms;
– aquafaba mayonnaise, lentil sprouts and cauliflower;
– aquafaba mayonnaise, sauerkraut and cauliflower etc.

Finally, mix Greek yogurt and feta well to cover the entire surface of the sandwich cake: if you find it difficult because it is too dense, dilute it by adding Greek yogurt and a little aquafaba mayonnaise. For a nice pink color you can put 4-5 tablespoons of the cooking water of beets. Apply generously after mixing well.
And finally a classy touch: the vegetables cut into strips to look like a gift box; or a rosebud to design over the top of your sandwich cake: allow plenty of room for your creativity and don’t forget to share the photos with me.
That’s it, the preparation is over; now store the precious cake in the fridge until it’s time to serve at the table.

Happy celebration and good revolution to all… and certainly happy birthday to the CHEtarian diet as well.

Bibliography
1) Yadav SK, Sehgal S. Effect of home processing on ascorbic acid and beta-carotene content of spinach (Spinacia oleracia) and amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 1995 Feb;47(2):125-31. doi: 10.1007/BF01089261. PMID: 7792260.
2) The Influence of Processing and Preservation on the Retention of Health‐Promoting Compounds in Broccoli F. Galgano F. Favati M. Caruso A. Pietrafesa S. Natella First published: 12 March 2007

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