Caprese Sandwich — The Simplest Things Are the Ones Worth Doing

Sixteen years sober last Thursday. I don't make a thing of it — no cake, no announcement, no social media post. Lisa knows. She squeezed my hand at breakfast and said nothing, which is exactly the right amount. I keep a chip in my wallet. I don't look at it most days. But I know it's there the way I know my own heartbeat — constant, quiet, the thing that keeps everything else running.

I was twenty when I quit. Shoulder blown out, football gone, sitting in a haze at parties I couldn't remember arriving at. My dad drove to Las Cruces and sat me down and said the thing that saved my life: "Your grandfather drank himself to death. Your uncle drank himself into prison. You can be the third or you can be the first Medina man to stop. Choose." I chose. Some days the choosing was hard. These days it's just who I am. But I remember the hard days, and I carry them, and they make the easy days mean something.

I'm telling you this because I write about food, and food and drinking are tangled up for a lot of people, especially guys, especially guys who grill and tailgate and stand around coolers on Saturday afternoons. I stand around coolers on Saturday afternoons. I just drink water, or Lisa's sweet tea, or whatever Diego hasn't finished. It's fine. It's been fine for sixteen years. If you're reading this and it's not fine for you yet, that's okay. You can be the first one in your family to stop. Choose.

Lighter note: the twins discovered the grill this week. Not discovered as in used — they're three, I'm not insane — but discovered as in became fascinated by. Marco stood with his face pressed against the patio door watching me cook carne asada, narrating the entire process in a language that was approximately forty percent English and sixty percent toddler. Elena tried to bring me a spatula, except it was a TV remote. Close enough.

The carne asada was simple — skirt steak, lime, garlic, cumin, a little oregano, hot grill, four minutes a side. Sliced thin against the grain, piled on warm tortillas with pico and a spoonful of roasted green chile. Diego ate four tacos. Lisa ate three. Sofia ate one, no chile, extra cheese. The twins ate shredded cheese in a tortilla, which is a taco if you believe hard enough. Feed your people. The game is won at the table.

Marco’s face pressed against that patio glass, narrating every move I made like I was putting on a show just for him—honestly, maybe I was. Some weeks you need a reminder that the simplest things are the ones worth doing, and nothing is simpler or more worth doing than feeding your kids something good. Here’s exactly how I made it.

Caprese Sandwich

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 baguette (16 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon thick balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze*
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups baby arugula
• 1 mozzarella ball (8 ounces)
• 2 medium ripe tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
• Flaky sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 small or 1/2 medium clove garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup (1 ounce) lightly packed fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Lots of freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Toast the bread. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the bread in half lengthwise, then stack it back together and slice it down the middle to form two large sandwiches, or again to make 4 small. Place the sliced bread on a baking sheet with the cut sides facing up. Bake for 5 minutes, or until warmed through and turning lightly golden around the edges.
2. Make the creamy basil sauce. In the meantime, prepare the creamy basil sauce*: In a food processor, blitz the roughly chopped garlic to chop it more finely. Scrape down the sides, then add the mayo, basil, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth, then set aside.
3. Layer the fillings. To assemble the sandwiches, lightly drizzle balsamic and olive oil over half of the cut sides of bread. Layer some arugula on top, then weigh it down with rounds of mozzarella. Top with the sliced tomato, then sprinkle the tomato lightly with flaky salt.
4. Finish and serve. Spread the basil sauce generously over the cut side of the remaining slices of bread. Place them face down over the tomatoes. Enjoy. These sandwiches are best served promptly, but they keep well in the refrigerator for a day (or you can store the components separately for up to 4 days and assemble sandwiches as needed).

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 316 | Protein: 14.4g | Fat: 24.8g | Saturated Fat: 8.8g | Carbs: 9.4g | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 3.2g | Sodium: 611.3mg | Cholesterol: 56mg