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Open Faced Caprese Sandwiches

Open Faced Caprese SandwichesLet's talk about things that are difficult to do with one hand.  Or, more specifically, while holding a baby in one arm.

1) Putting on underwear and pants.

2) Any sort of self care (makeup, lotion, cutting fingernails)

3) Putting on and tying shoes.

4) Preparing food.

5) Photographing food.

6). Eating food.  Especially sandwiches.

While I don't have any solutions yet for most of those problems, I've come up with a way to get around eating a sandwich with only one hand.  The open faced sandwich!

The thing that makes eating a sandwich with one hand difficult is that if you only have one hand to hold the contents of the sandwich between the bread, you're squishing down one part (likely the back of the sandwich) and the front part opens up and spills out all the goodies.

This is why open faced sandwiches are where. it's. at. if you're limited to the use of one hand for an extended amount of time that happens to fall over a meal time.  Which is pretty much my life right now.

With the endless amount of tomatoes and basil coming from my garden (LOVE this time of year!) I've been making sure to keep fresh mozzarella in my fridge at all times.  Because CAPRESE.  Ugh so good.

I came up with this super easy and simple open faced sandwich awhile ago when I was pregnant and thought of it again during one of those times of desperation when I needed lunch an hour ago but only had one hand to work with.  Aside from cutting the tomatoes, this open faced sandwich is ideal for the one hander.  (Disclaimer: I had Lars in the Solly Baby Wrap, keeping him safe and out of the knives way.)

And if you're like me and have balsamic reduction on hand always, this can literally be a 10 minute meal.  Otherwise you're gonna need an extra 15 minutes to make that reduction.  Balsamic vinegar reduction>balsamic vinegar so don't even think about not making the reduction.

Other reasons to make these open faced 'wiches?  Easy.  Fast.  Very little oven time.  Summer produce.  Do it!

Open Faced Caprese Sandwiches

Open Faced Caprese Sandwiches

Open Faced Caprese Sandwiches

Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 1 to mato sliced into four slices
  • 2 tablespoons chopped basil
  • fresh mozzarella log sliced thinly
  • 4 slices of bread
  • balsamic reduction*
  • sea salt
  • *For balsamic reduction:
  • 1 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat broiler.
  • Place tomato slices on top of bread. For the size of my bread, two slices of tomato fit on each piece of bread.
  • Top with mozzarella. Again, this is going to depend on your preference of cheesiness and size of your bread. I put 2-3 slices of mozzarella on each piece of bread.
  • Place bread onto baking sheet.
  • Place under broiler for 1-2 minutes, until cheese is melted and starting to bubble.
  • Top with chopped basil, drizzle with balsamic reduction, and sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Enjoy!
  • *To make balsamic reduction:
  • Place balsamic vinegar and sugar into small saucepan.
  • Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
  • Lower heat to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until vinegar is thickened to the consistency of maple syrup. A good way to tell is that it will coat the back of a spoon.
Tried this recipe?Mention @greensnchocolate to let me know!
Need more ideas?Find all of my recipe pins @greenschocolate

 

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  1. Whoa! I'm in love. So delicious Taylor! And I agree, open-faced sandwiches are so much easier to eat! Hope you and little Lars are doing well. 🙂

  2. I agree - I am all about the open-faced sandwiches right now (and I don't even have to eat while holding a little one!). This looks wonderful!

  3. I'm jealous of your abundance of tomatoes and basil! Hopefully next year I'll be able to have a garden with an abundance, so I can make lots of these amazing sandwiches!