Red Wine Vinaigrette Tuna Sandwiches on Sourdough

Don’t you love that first bite of food, when the crust crunches, the flavors ignite and you can’t help but almost groan at how good the food tastes? Yeah, me too. If the first bite is like that, I know the dish is a keeper. I call it the first-bite test.

Things that pass the first-bite test typically include Ben & Jerry’s, things with chocolate, steak, steak, more steak, cheese, fried bananas, steak (did I mention steak?) really good pizza, Root Beer, milk, and avocado smoothies. Also cheeseburgers. Because America.

I’ve always loved the first bite of food. When I was a little kid, I adored (and still do adore) a restaurant called Friendly’s for that very reason. Friendly’s is amazing. I normally ordered one of their great burgers before getting ice cream, each of which definitely passed the first-bite test. They are the reason why I love restaurants.

But all the restaurant-made tuna sandwiches I could find always boasted rich and complex ingredients, but the flavors got muted and lost in the process of making the sandwich. I focus on simple, bold flavors and I could never quite find them in those sandwiches. They never passed the first bite test.

So I made my own red wine vinaigrette tuna sandwiches on sourdough. Exactly what I always wanted. And guess what?

They passed the first-bite test. With flying colors.

Wanna hear about it?

The bread crunched. The seasonings settled on my tongue just before the tuna exploded like fireworks. The red wine vinaigrette connected the whole thing like a master composer, each ingredient an instrument in a concerto of bold simple flavor. It was kind of awesome. Unicorn meat couldn’t taste any better.

I think I need to re-watch Ratatouille. I used to hate that little hipster rat. Now I kinda identify with him.

It was definitely worth the effort. Let me know what you think and be sure to come cook with me more often! I promise my food will pass the first-bite test!