July 14 is Bastille Day, the day in 1789 when the Bastille prison in Paris was stormed, and the French Revolution began. With this in mind, I thought about making a French-inspired supper and decided to make a tartine. The word “tartine” means slice of bread with spreadable ingredients in French and can also mean an open-face sandwich.

For this quick sandwich supper, I topped thick slices of bread with some deli roast beef and crumbled blue cheese. A watercress salad with its slightly peppery flavor adds a little zing.

Helpful Hints:

You can find roasted beets can be found in the produce section of the market. You can use cherry tomatoes instead.

You can use any type of blue cheese, such as Roquefort.

You can use any type of whole grain bread.

4 thick slices whole grain bread

Olive oil spray

4 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

10 ounces lean sliced deli low-sodium roast beef

3/4 cup reduced-fat crumbled blue cheese (2 ounces)

2 cups watercress leaves

1/2 cup roasted beet cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons reduced-fat oil and vinegar dressing

Spray bread with olive oil spray and toast in a toaster oven or under a broiler. Mix the mayonnaise and horseradish together and spread over the toasted bread. Add the roast beef slices and then the blue cheese. Place two tartines on each of two dinner plates. Add the watercress leaves and beet cubes to each plate. Drizzle the dressing over the watercress leaves.

Yield 2 servings.
– Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

Tribune News Service