My Favorite Sandwich: Pesto, Tomato, Mozzarella

This is my favorite sandwich - a fresh baguette slathered with pesto and topped with basil leaves and thick slices of mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. The first time I had a variation of this sandwich was with Katie when we took the train into Harvard Square and got the sandwiches at Au Bon Pain. It became a ritual of sorts, and every time we went to Harvard Square we'd get the sandwiches. Now every time I eat one of these I think of her. 

Even better is making the sandwiches at home, when you can use homemade pesto and pick the freshest ingredients to fill the sandwich. This is exactly what I was in the mood for this weekend - a big sandwich to fill the bottomless pit of my belly (no matter what I eat, it always seems like I'm hungry all day long after I've finished a big run. Saturday was no exception after my 12 mile run).

To make these sandwiches you'll need the following:

• baguette
• pesto
• mozzarella cheese
• tomatoes
• fresh basil (optional but strongly recommended)

Once you have all of your ingredients, the assembly is quite simple.

Cut sections of your bread and slice down the middle.

Slather both sides of bread with pesto.

Add slices of mozzarella.

Add slices of tomato and sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired.

Add fresh basil leaves.

Close your sandwich and enjoy!

This sandwich really hit the spot! Sometimes I'll make an open-faced sandwich, but I was hungry enough to eat a full one - and a little more pesto is never a bad thing. This is also the first "meal" I ever made for Pat on my own. It was probably five years ago at this point - one day I bought all of the ingredients and surprised him. He'd never had it before and loved it - and I was so excited to have made something for him that he liked (since he's always been the food expert). I made him one on Saturday, too.

Speaking of the bottomless pit of my belly...I pack a snack to have on the ride home from work (since its over an hour drive). Usually I pack some baby carrots and/or an apple, but I still find that when I walk in the door I'm starving and ready to devour everything in sight (which is especially inconvenient if I'm going to the gym). I realized that these snacks weren't really enough to tide me over from lunch until dinner, so I've been making baggies of assorted snacks that combine a little fat, fiber and protein. The snack I made today was my favorite so far:

Peanut Butter Puffins cereal (if you haven't tried this yet, you must), raw almonds, and unsweetened dried apple rings.

This keeps me full a lot longer and prevents me from tearing apart the kitchen when I get home (or at least delays it for a while!).

What's your favorite snack? What do you eat before working out?