I just got home from a trip to Florida, and I have to admit America is an odd place to be a vegetarian. Most restaurants didn’t have a single veg item on their menu, and when one man heard I was a vegetarian he jokingly told me to “Go back to my planet”. I loved the weather there but I can’t deny that I’m glad to be back around my veggie food.

I saw some interesting food in my travels at the grocery stores. The spray cheese in a can that doesn’t need to be refrigerated was questionable, but my friends and I tried it and we decided it wasn’t too bad. Then we tried peanut butter Captain Crunch, and that stuff is just amazing. I wish they sold it where I live!

One meal I had there which was amazing was an eggplant parmesan. I hadn’t ever remembered tasting one and this restaurant in Daytona made it perfectly, so when I got home I though of ways to make something similar. This sandwich uses a pre-made vegan scallopini, but if you subbed in a homemade eggplant parm I bet it would be delicious as well! The parmesan flavour comes from the nutritional yeast which mixes really nicely with the tomato and balsamic.

Ingredients

Makes 1 sandwich

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 piece vegetarian scallopini (I used Blue Menu)
• 1 6-inch piece of fresh Italian bread, halved and toasted
• 1 tbsp. balsamic mustard
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/2 cup baby arugula
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1 slice fresh tomato

Method

Heat oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat and add scallopini. Cook for roughly 3 minutes on each side, turning as little as possible to avoid breading falling off. Once lightly browned on each side, remove from heat and pat down scallopini with a paper towl to drain excess oil.

On the Italian bread, spread the balsamic mustard evenly on both pieces and sprinkle the nutritional yeast on top. Layer the baby arugula, tomato sauce, slice of tomato and scallopini. Serve immediately while still hot.