Recipes I'm certainly no Julia Child, but this recipe below gets a ton of search engine hits, so I guess folks like it!

Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwich

During the spring and summer, this is one of our favorite lunchtime meals. It's simple, and tastes very fresh. The original recipe is French and is served on roadside stands in France, as well as in French bakeries in the US. Variations include using a tough-crust type of baguette and whole-leaf basil, but the basic recipe is the same in all the variations I've had in the US and abroad.

We like to use fresh sweetbasil from a pot we have out on our deck. It's easy to grow in even the smallest of places, it's cheaper and both keeps longer and tastes fresher than bagged basil from the supermarket.

Ingredients (for two large sandwiches) - 2 Small Fresh Baguettes, or one - (1) Large Fresh Baguette (the fresher the better) - 2 Small to Medium Ripe tomatos, seeded and cored - Fresh Mozzarella (do not use the normal yellowish mozzarella, you want the kind that comes in two soft spongy egg-sized balls usually suspended in water. Both Giant and Fresh Fields carry this in our area) - Fresh Basil to taste (do not substitute dried basil) - Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste

Cut enough of the hard ends off of the baguettes so the width of the bread is consistant across the length of the bread (this will make it easier to stuff). Once that is done, cut the bread as you would any other sandwich or sub. If you are using a single large baguette, cut it in half now.

Split open the sandwich, being careful not to break it in half. Sprinkle a little bit of olive oil on the inside (you will put more in afterwards)

Slice up the tomatos and fill each sandwich. Then slice up the basil into 1/4 strips and liberally add it to the sandwiches on top of the tomato.

Sprinkle a little more olive oil over the tomatos and basil in the sandwiches

Slice each egg-sized mozarella ball into 4 to 5 slices, and place them in the sandwiches over the tomato and basil (you may have to stuff them in a bit here. hehe)

Slice each sandwich in half and enjoy :-)