mash up

I made a sandwich today inspired by a few tasty dishes I've had in the past.  It was amazing, so I had to share!  One of my inspirations was this steak panini from Choice market down the street.  The service is awful, the food expensive, but delicious.  So of course I'm always going back for more.  The steak panini's special quality is their sauce that's so packed with flavor, the sandwich is just another steak sandwich without it.  And if I remember correctly, they dress it with arugula too, which I think you can never go wrong when it comes to steak, or any kind of beef sandwich for that matter.  It is however, a little on the bitter side (in a good way), so I think you'd have to have an acquired taste for it.  So that takes me to our next inspiration: Pret a Manger's roast beef sandwich.  It's fresh, it's full, it's fantastic!  The crispy French baguette is layered with roast beef, arugula (again), parmesan shavings, and mayo.  The bread is a little hard to bite through, but the flavors are amazing together.  Finally, I recently ordered my first beef carpaccio from Fig and Olive.  The raw beef was sliced so thinly, it was  almost translucent.  They threw on some shaved parmesan, a few leaves of arugula, salt pepper, and a drizzle of some wonderful balsamic vinegar.  It left me craving some more of those flavors for days.  See the pattern?  Beef. Parmesan. Arugula.  I finally had all of my ingredients today, but let me tell you, arugula is a very elusive vegetable!

I bought some half baked french rolls, but I'm sure any of your favorite breads will do.  I put those in the oven to finish baking.  Here are the rest of the ingredients:

Deli roast beef, a few slices per sandwich-- go ahead, add more if you're a meat lover
Arugula, a few sprigs to a small handful
Parmesan shavings
Red onion, THINLY sliced-- optional, but I highly recommend
1tbs Peter Luger's steak sauce, or other sauce with horseradish-- the key is sweet and spicy
1tbs Mayo

Layer roast beef, arugula, onions and cheese on bread.  Mix steak sauce and mayo and drizzle onto sandwich.  Top with another slice of bread and enjoy!  Another variation:  if you don't have bread or are laying off the carbs, toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and you have a delicious salad!  I did both :) Yum!