Focaccia Beet Sandwich and what it means to be a real friend.

I was taught that love always equals sacrifice. Loyalty means doing the hard thing, not the easy thing. True friendship isn’t about having fun, but about work. What I’ve discovered, however, is that love is far more malleable than this, that there must also be room for joy and gratitude and warmth in love. And I think that’s really it: “room.” Room to spread your joy without restriction; room to spill your anxiety until it dissolves within the stolid bounds of affection; and, room to watch your grief—together–as still as and unmoving as a stranger’s back. I am still mourning and it is no longer a verb, to me, so much as it is an adjective, part of who I am. And of all things, I draw so much comfort from friends who quietly see me as I am without explanation or translation.
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As to the sandwich, I was walking through the farmers market and these beets wouldn’t let me leave without them. I thought it might be nice to make a sandwich out of them with the focaccia bread I baked the day before. I also had some perilla leaves left over from the Gamja tang I’d made earlier in the week, along with my favorite hummus. I haven’t had as many sandwiches since going vegan—I usually don’t find a bunch of veggies satisfying enough between two slices of regular bread. But, that’s the nice thing about focaccia—it’s hearty enough that it actually feels imbalanced to add too much between the thick slabs. I’ll be adding this to my recipe app (The Kollective) later this week, but for my quick notes, see below:
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Roast the beets by poking holes all over with a fork, adding just a drop of EVOO, wrapping them in foil, and then sticking them in the air fryer or oven at 400°F or 450°F (respectively) until a sharp knife easily goes through the center. This can take 20 minutes or 70 minutes, depending on the size of your beet. Slice them about as thing as you would deli meat. Slather some of your fave hummus on the bread and then layer on your beets, perilla leaves, some roasted red bell pepper, a slice of your fave vegan cheese, and dig in!

Joanne Lee Molinaro is a Korean American trial lawyer, New York Times best-selling author, James Beard Award-winner, and host of the Are You Ready podcast. With nearly 5 million fans spread across her social media platforms, Joanne has appeared on The Food Network, CBS Saturday Morning, ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Today Show, PBS, and The Rich Roll Podcast. She’s been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and CNN; and her debut cookbook was selected as one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2021” by The New York Times and The New Yorker among others.

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