Fried Green Tomato Sabich

Fried Green Tomato Sabich is what’s for lunch today! Fried green tomatoes, spicy mayo, Israeli salad, eggs, homemade pita and unicorn tears. Okay, not that last thing. Hello, y’all! I feel like I start every blog post lately with “I just got back from ___”, but it’s true! I spent last weekend visiting my brother (affectionately known as Andypooh) in San Francisco. Have you been to SF before?? It’s one of my favorites in the world! How could you not love a city full of pastel buildings, every ethnic food you could want, some of the best wine ever and accessible hiking to work it all off?

I’ve been a bunch of times before, so no need to check out Alacatraz or Union Square. This trip, I spent some time at the Jewseum ( I love that pun so so much), noshed on dim sum, cocktailed with Gabi, and squeezed in a little spinning too. And I started planning some details for my cookbook tour!! All in all a success.

I swear I’m taking a break from traveling. That is, until I go to San Antonio next week… oy!

The food scene is top notch in SF, so of course I ate a lot of tasty dishes- sushi, some killer fish and chips, a pretty impressive free lunch of grilled ramps salad and pineapple basil water thanks to LinkedIn (#startuplife). So that makes this post extra meaningful. It was so wonderful spending time with family in a beautiful place, where our toughest decision is whether to open the ’09 cab or the ’11 pinot (we went with the cab). But not everyone has such trivial worries.
When my girl Whitney (also co-author on 4 Bloggers Dish) asked if I wanted to participate in Foodies Fighting Hunger with MAZON, I was totally game. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit organization working to end hunger in the United States and Israel for all faiths and backgrounds. Hunger may seem like a far away issue, or something just the homeless suffer with, but it’s shocking to hear how many people are hungry right in our own backyards.

Here are the facts, y’all:

• 1 in 7 Americans struggle with hunger. 15.3 million American children struggle with hunger; 5.4 million seniors are food insecure. In Texas, where I live, 17.2% of households are food insecure.
• There are so many myths surrounding hunger. For example, lack of food isn’t the problem, it’s getting vulnerable people the access to healthy food. Read more here. 
• Hungry people are not just who you think. Read stories on hunger here. 

I hope you continue the conversation and take action!

So I’ll fully admit I was not good at this. I live in Austin, and have access to tons of fresh produce. I’ve spent $7 on green juice and splurge on organic eggs. Plus, when creating this recipe, I kept wanting to add more. Tahini sauce! Amba! Cilantro! But that stuff adds up, so I made some compromises. But I still wanted a dish with tons flavor that didn’t seem like I was settling. In the end of the day I went with a twist on my favorite sabich. I nixed the pricier tahini sauce and amba for a spicy mayo, and was happy with the delicious result.

After I tested the sabich and photographed it (and definitely ate it), I realized families may not even have access to green tomatoes. Or cucumbers. Even if you have the desire (and time) to cook, it’s hard to make a nutritious meal without nutritious ingredients. We food bloggers think of the joy of cooking when developing recipes, but creativity is not on the menu (literally) for the hungry.
Whit gave us $5 to spend per meal, which was not easy.  So what did I spend? I made enough for four hearty sabich, but you really wouldn’t need much more for 4 people and could do it for under $5. 

• Two pieces homemade pita: $0.50
• 1 green tomato: $0.60
• 2 eggs: $0.33
• Bread crumbs: $0.50
• 1 cucumber: $0.50
• 1/2 red onion: $0.40
• 1 bunch cilantro: $0.25
• Panty items: salt, pepper, flour, hot sauce, olive oil: $0.20
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise: $0.25
• 1 lemon: $0.25
• Total:  $3.88!

Make sure to check out the other foodies for hunger posts!:

• Spring Sopita de Letras by Hola Jalapeño
• Ramen Alfredo with Fresh Herbs by JewHungry
• Black Beans and Cheesy Tortillas by A Nutritionist Eats
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Overnight Oats by Let’s Eat Cake
• The $5 Vegan Kale Tortilla Chip Salad by Greens and Fries
• Crustless Veggie Frittatae in Muffin Tins by Kosher Like Me

Fried Green Tomato Sabich (Foodies Fighting Hunger)

Amy Kritzer

Fried Green Tomato Sabich is what's for lunch today! Fried green tomatoes, spicy mayo, Israeli salad, eggs, homemade pita and unicorn tears. Okay, not that last thing.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine Israeli

Servings 2 sabich

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cucumber diced
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1 bunch cilantro minced
• 1/4 cup oil divided
• 1 lemon
• Kosher salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Dash of your favorite hot sauce
• 1 large green tomato cut into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg whisked
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 hardboiled egg sliced
• Two pieces homemade pita

Instructions

 

• To make your Israeli salad, combine cucumber, red onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 tablespoon oil, juice from 1/2 lemon and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Mix together mayo and hot sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
• To make the fried green tomatoes, place flour with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt in one shallow bowl, whisked egg in another, and bread crumbs in a third.
• Head remaining oil in a small sauté pan until a bit of bread crumbs thrown in sizzle but do not burn. Fry tomatoes 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Do not overcrowd pan, Drain briefly on paper towels and sprinkle with more salt.
• Spread spicy mayo in the spiced pitas and top with fried green tomatoes, salad, a few egg slices and more cilantro. Serve with extra salad and a squeeze of lemon.

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