Freshie’s Sandwich

Freshies Restaurant, Lake Tahoe, CA – Its where I got my inspiration for this sandwich. It is a small, simple restaurant with Hawaiian flare. The staff were friendly and were happy to substitute any meat recipe with tofu or tempeh. I had a “fish” taco while G had “Folsom Philly”. When we both were expecting a bland, oily soy product with little flavour, the meal that arrived on our table took us by surprise. The bold flavour and the creativity on the plate still lingers in my memory.

I was particularly interested in G’s order (happens all the time), whose sandwich didn’t have tofu but veggie burger patty. It was sautéed with jerk-seasoning making it crispy and spicy. I don’t have jerk-seasoning at home. But I have recreated the dish from my memory by combining Indian spices.

Ingredients

Frozen burger patty – 2, Morningstar Farm's or Boca
Coriander powder – ¾ tsp
Jeera powder – a pinch
Curry powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Pepper – 4 or 5, coarsely crushed
Salt

Method

I find using the burger patties straight from the freezer makes it easy to cut and coat with spices. I also prefer Morningstar Garden Veggie Pattie because of its not-so-soy flavour.

Cut the unthawed burger patties into cubes. Mix all the spice powders in a bowl. Toss the burger cubes in the spice mix.

Heat a tsp of oil in a sauté pan, and sauté the patty cubes until they are toasted and the spice mix has lost its raw flavour.

I serve this over toasted Hawaiian sweet bread which complements the spicy filling.

Freshie's sandwich with cucumber raita - Light lunch on a hot summer day.