Between the Bread muses that while there's a time and a place for everything, a sandwich (or any meal truly) with a polished pedigree does not always beat out its simplified counterpart.

I've been on a salmon sandwich kick lately, and suddenly I'm finding them everywhere, including on my first visit to Wayfare Tavern. During a rainy lunch, I ordered the salmon club sandwich and a Pimm's Cup.

Featuring avocado-basil aioli, roasted tomato, and bacon on brioche, the sandwich was pretty yummy. Frankly, I'd pay $17 to spend every rainy afternoon at this cozy, bucolic tavern.

But while the fish was outstanding, the sandwich itself didn't seem worth $17 — especially compared to this salmon sammie I enjoyed at an impromptu barbecue in a friend's backyard.

Yes, it's much simpler, but the salmon was just as well-cooked, grilled just enough by my personal chefs, and served on a soft bun with avocado.

I'm not saying one sandwich is necessarily superior to the other — just that simpler and cheaper can be just as good.

Want more? Start following Between the Bread, then get to work on your own food blog. You could wind up featured here.

For a different take on dessert popcorn, Life Above the Clouds demonstrates how to make corn pop with melted marshmallows.

Holy shmoly this stuff is delicious! It's caramel popcorn plus marshmallow goodness, and there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion! I was looking for a quick afternoon snack, and thankfully I just stocked up on marhsmallows for the Summer (can you say s'mores?). My only problem with this recipe is that it doesn't harden like regular caramel popcorn does, so I ate the gooey mess with a fork.

For more pictures and the recipe, keep reading.

For food lovers who embrace the local and sustainable eating philosophy, Oustanding in the Field is a rare opportunity to literally experience farm-to-table (or shall we say table-to-farm?) dining. Here, Fresh Tart gives us a look at one such event in Minnesota.

Tickets for Outstanding in the Field 2012 — August 9, at Little Foot Farm in Afton, Minnesota — are on sale. I bought a ticket and then thought, Hey! I should post the pictures I took at the 2011 event, at Riverbend Farm in Delano . . . last July . . .

Yeah. In fact I have several pretty posts in the queue, waiting for me to dust them off and share them. I guess it takes a looming one-year anniversary to kick my butt into gear.

For more pictures — including those of the farm and, of course, the lovely Summer food! — keep reading.

Just as wonderful as eating Summer produce, Love in a Bowl demonstrates, is growing fresh Summer produce. Here, she shares some of her favorite garden-driven grub.

Summer is here once again. Although I have neglected my recipes, I certainly have not neglected my kitchen. My two little boys are eating me out of house and home! We planted a garden again this year. Really, we felt we had little choice. The extra sun that resulted from the removal of a shade tree, and the compost we have been making, have turned out to be a true culinary blessing. It is only the first week of June and we are overrun with squash, zucchini, half-runner green beans, and cucumbers! The cayennes and tomatoes aren't too far behind and my okra plants have just begun to blossom! Amazingly enough, the other corner of my little yard in the city is so cool and damp that it's still producing the most delicious lettuces and swiss chard! I am truly in Heaven. As the squash and zucchini begin to fill my kitchen, I am reminded of this world of recipes that I have been neglecting.

Tonight my husband is re-creating my squash casserole and we have revisited my zucchini bread recipe. I haven't made a frozen lasagna yet, but I did manage to create a shrimp pasta that got great reviews. My oldest son has a fondness for shrimp, so I decided to combine shrimp, zucchini, squash, angel hair pasta, and a fabulous pesto!

Read ahead to get the recipe.

A sandwich of asparagus and mushrooms could be kind of dull — or, as Between the Bread demonstrates, it could be a triumphant lesson in culinary restraint.

Ann Arbor's famed Zingerman's Deli is known for its corned beef sandwiches, but it's also not shy when it comes to packing on farmers market fresh veggies.

This recipe, dubbed Rodger's Big Picnic, comes from my trusty Roadfood Sandwiches cookbook, which describes this sandwich as Zingerman's ode to Michigan produce and particularly asparagus.

Putting this recipe together, I worried it would be too dull. The mushrooms are just broiled, not marinated, and the sandwich is adorned with nothing but sharp cheddar and Dijon mustard.

But with perfectly cooked, totally fresh produce, two ingredients are all you need. The sandwich was unexpectedly graceful, simple yet full-bodied, and hard to put down.

For the recipe, keep reading.

Looking for an elegant yet simple way to serve cauliflower? Look no further than Fresh Tart's gluten-free version of cauliflower gratin.

Perhaps it's cliche that I read MFK Fisher's The Gastronomical Me and wanted to immerse myself in the world of food, but that's OK. Who wouldn't want to do exactly that after reading that sexy, scrumptious book? My goodness that woman could write, my mouth waters (and my heart swoons) just thinking about it.

There's one passage in particular that has had me making simple cauliflower gratins for years. I purposely don't look back at the specifics, I just count on how incredible she made cauliflower roasted with cream and Gruyere sound, swiped through with crusty bread and enjoyed with cold wine.

Lord.

So here's my version, so simple, so completely gluten-free, so much better than the pasta dish I served to Nathan and John tonight (in my opinion). I threw in some arugula leaves this evening because I had them, but you wouldn't need to include them.

Keep reading for an elemental cauliflower gratin recipe.

Like the perfect handbag, a well-constructed potato galette is perfect for any time of day or occasion. Just ask Fresh Tart!

A potato galette is simply thin slices of potatoes, fat, and seasoning layered into a shallow pan and roasted until crusty and browned. It's traditional to serve alongside a roast of some sort, and definitely do that, because you can imagine crusty, buttery potatoes do a fine job of soaking up meaty juices of almost any type.

But a potato galette also makes a killer meal all on its own, particularly alongside (or underneath!) a tart arugula salad. In fact, invite people over if you make one, otherwise . . . you will eat the whole thing by yourself. As healthful as a tart arugula salad is, it will not offset the regret of eating an entire galette on your own; I know this from experience.

Learn more about the art of the potato galette.

We never would've thought of fried green tomato parmesan (that credit goes to Food Orleans), but now that the idea's entered our minds, there's only one real way to resolve our craving.

Because I love them so, I've written a couple of love letters to fried green tomatoes over the years: the fried green tomato caprese "salad" I made without remorse, and fried green tomato BLTs, a longtime favorite. Green tomatoes are so good when fried, I think a lot of folks never try them other ways, like in a salsa or gazpacho. I really, really want to use them in recipes like that. I really do! But when I think of them fried, I just can't resist.

It just so happens that fried green tomatoes work extremely well in a "parmesan" or a casserole of breaded, fried something (usually eggplant or chicken) layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. The tomatoes are a little tangy, so they add a lot of character to the dish, but they're also a lot easier to fry than eggplant, which always soaks up so much oil. The tomatoes stand up to frying and still soften without a lot of oil, so you actually end up with something quite a bit lighter here than eggplant parmesan. Which is a total lagniappe, if you ask me.

The recipe, and step-by-step photos, when you keep reading.

Not-quite-soft-boiled, not-quite-hard-boiled eggs get the special treatment in this otherworldly sandwich creation from OnSugar blog Between the Bread.

My houseboy has been on a soft-boiled egg kick lately — or maybe you'd call them gently boiled eggs, because the whites have the firmness of a hard-boiled egg, but the yolk is not quite firm, not quite runny. On sandwiches, they are a revelation.

After a recent egg-boiling session, we put together this twist on a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. The trio of crisped prosciutto, manchego cheese, and gooey egg provided a fascinating flavor and texture combination — salty, creamy, and reminiscent of some of the best parts of French and Italian sandwich concepts.

Like a good club sandwich, the balance of firm ingredients (toast, hard cheese) with moist (egg, mustard) made it all too easy to eat. This reinvention will most definitely be repeated.

Want more? Start following Between the Bread, then get to work on your own food blog. Your gastronomic adventures could wind up featured here.

If you're itching for a culinary adventure, there's no need to leave your home! Escape to Avery Island for a crawfish feast with Food Orleans.

This was my lunch. I ate it all.

Avery Island is a gorgeous place; it's surrounded by a long lace of bayous, has plenty of wildlife roaming around freely (deer, bears, raccoons, alligators), and houses the beautiful Jungle Gardens and Bird Sanctuary.  You can spend a full day there soaking up the splendor, especially if you pack in a trip to the Tabasco factory.

We had a lovely, long ride down the bayou to the McIlhenny family's trapper's camp, just so we could get in some air boat rides (FUN!) and a little of this:

My favorite lunch in the world! These fellas were HUGE.

I'm only partly responsible for this amount of crawfish carnage.  Let's just say that my tablemate, Cecil, is one fast picker.

Earlier that day, we had a tasting of all seven flavors of Tabasco sauce, led by CEO and Chairman of the Board Paul McIlhenny.  His chief flavor developer, Charlie Chang, who has worked for the McIlhennys for over 30 years, was also present at the tasting. It was fascinating listening to the two describe how certain flavors were inspired, or how they were refined to become what they are today.  I have to say, my new favorite hot sauce is Tabasco Habanero.  It's Jamaican inspired and has a lot of fruit flavor to it, plus it packs a slow, intense heat that hits you at the end.  For the tasting, we had saltine crackers and softened butter to help us tolerate the high amounts of heat in some of the sauces.  I discovered that a saltine cracker spread with butter and topped with a little Habanero sauce is extremely delicious--like eating a wicked little butter cookie.  I'm in love.

For more on this tasty adventure, plus a Tabasco-inspired mixology lesson, keep reading!

Just reading the words "pull-apart cinnamon rolls" gets our taste buds all excited. We're so grateful to Life Above the Clouds for providing us with this fantastic recipe.

I found a great looking recipe for Monkey Muffins using leftover bread dough or biscuit dough. I'm still not sure why it's called monkey bread, but I think it's absolutely decadent. It's coated in butter and you get to eat it with your hands! It came out more like a pull-apart cinnamon roll, but that's OK because I love cinnamon rolls too.

For the recipe, keep reading!

You've heard how meatless Mondays are good for the planet. Now, look to Cooking in Pajamas for a fast and easy vegan chili recipe.

Meatless Monday is back baby!  It never actually went anywhere, I just kept forgetting to blog about it. In my quest to get healthy and lose a few pounds before my 20th anniversary trip in April, I have been testing out a plant based diet. I keep going back and forth on whether I want to include fish in my diet. I am thinking of limiting it to once or twice a month. While I decide, I am loving some of the vegetarian dishes I have made. For lunch yesterday I made a polenta pizza. . .a grilled slice of polenta topped with a slice of heirloom tomato, shredded mozzarella, garlic and basil.

This chili will knock your socks off. Not only is it healthy, it is a flavorful and spicy bowl of vegetables, beans, chiles, spices and wine. You can easily serve this to the die-hard meat eaters in your house, and it will be gobbled up.

This chili is also vegan, which means it contains no dairy products. If you are not into the vegan thing, feel free to top your bowl of chili with sour cream and sharp cheddar. The chili is quite spicy. As you see it has a jalapeño AND a chipotle chili. If you would like a more mild version, use half of the jalapeño with the seeds removed. Try not to cut back on the chipotle because it adds a deep, smoky flavor.

For her unique technique — which involves marinating tofu for extra flavor! — keep reading.

We couldn't agree more with Food Orleans: the sight of grass-green asparagus is a sure sign of Spring.

Do you love asparagus like I do? 'Cause I really, really love it. I also love that it's a harbinger of spring eating, and even though we can technically buy it at the store year-round, I try not to. Waiting until the spring for asparagus is one of the first seasonal-buying lessons I learned when I started learning to cook. Plus, I like the fact that I can get excited about a vegetable.

It's like the beauty pageant version of broccoli. The diva of the vegetable world. I scan the market for its stalks as if I were checking for grass shoots. It's tall and lean and might be usable as a paintbrush, in a pinch. Plus it's awesome in salads of all kinds, especially this yummy potato salad full of herbs and lemony, light flavors. All it needs is a quick steam and a plunge in some ice water to set the color, and you've got spring in a bowl!

For her creole-inspired asparagus and potato salad recipe, keep reading.

This combination of flavors on a bagel is classic and expected, but in sandwich form, it's innovative and exciting. Find out what Between the Bread thought about this sandwich experience.

On a rare day when I don't bring my lunch to work, I always tell myself I'll get a salad, but I end up falling for a sandwich instead. This happened on a recent excursion to Fleur de Sel to buy a tasty salad. But when I stepped up to the counter, I was tempted by this bagel and lox-inspired sandwich.

On soft and yummy multigrain bread, this sandwich combined velvety smoked salmon, lemon-tinged cream cheese, pickled red onions, and capers. Though it was a little too wet (made earlier that day), it exceeded my premade sandwich expectations. The zesty, creamy, tangy, and bright flavors added up to a deliciously complex mouthful for just four ingredients.

Also: capers on a sandwich is a great idea. I'm going to try it on some other combos too.

For more sandwich adventures, be sure to follow Between the Bread, and share your own when you create an OnSugar blog!

OnSugar blogger Fresh Tart creates beautiful-looking food, and this tarragon-crusted lamb with goat cheese fondue continues her streak.

Spring is in the air! And on your plate!

Tarragon-Crusted Lamb with Goat Cheese Fondue at Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures/Food & Wine Magazine.

Want more? Start following Fresh Tart, then get crackin' on your own OnSugar blog. Who knows? You could wind up featured here!

Could Between the Bread be more spot-on? She's absolutely right; everybody does love sandwiches. Who can resist something like a prosciutto loaf-wich?

Everybody likes sandwiches — at least everybody I know. So to serve a crowd, I love to make a loaf-wich. That is, one big sandwich on a loaf of ciabatta or French bread, sliced into individual servings.

At a recent family gathering, we made two of these ciabatta sandwiches, featuring prosciutto, manchego, fig butter, mustard, arugula, and a mix of fennel and lemon slices, sliced very thin and sauteed. The fennel and lemon combo, inspired by a 'Wichcraft recipe, tastes mild yet zesty and pleases even picky eaters.

Find out how to replicate this loaf-wich at home.

As a self-professed experienced eater, Yoo Eatz tells us the story of her introduction to Korean food, and, boy, does it sound delicious.

By the time I entered college, I thought of myself as a rather experienced eater. Born and raised in a multicultural family in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had been exposed to all sorts of foods from the get-go and was rarely fazed by anything "weird" (Chicken feet? Sure. Alligator tail? No problem. Crab innards? Give it to me over rice.) And my young adult self was certain that there was no cuisine I had yet to conquer.

Then I met the guy who is now my husband, and he proceeded to rock my world with the marvels of Korean food. Yeah, I had experienced plenty of barbecue and jjigaes (stews) by then, but one night he took me to a Korean-owned sushi joint tucked away in a tiny Oakland strip mall, and he ordered us two heaping bowls of hwae dup bap that seriously changed my life.

According to my loose understanding of the Korean language, hwae dup bap translates to raw fish over rice, and while it lacks the orchestrated beauty of Japanese chirashi, you can think of it as chirashi's untamed cousin. Everyone has their own version of this dish (my husband remembers his mom making a simple version with just sashimi and rice for church picnics), but the general equation is as follows (from the bottom up): sushi rice, greens, chopped raw fish, fish roe, and a quail egg, drizzled with sesame oil and a vinegary gochujang sauce. It's refreshing, light, but incredibly filling, and it will change the way you think about sashimi. The Japanese girl in me still enjoy a slice of toro delicately dabbed in shoyu and fresh wasabi, but my newfound Korean side absolutely melts for hwae dup bap.

I based this recipe on our spot in the East Bay which included seaweed salad to round out its from-the-sea flavor. If you have access to good quality sashimi and an Asian grocery store, then you'll have all the ingredients you need for this explosive dish.

For the recipe, read on.