Your Weekly Sandwich: Seafood Salad Roll
September 06, 2011, By Craig J. Heimbuch 0 comments
There are two problems with the lobster roll as a sandwich. Number one, it's lobster. Unless you live next to a dock in Maine, lobster is prohibitively expensive as a meal. Too formal too. Too fancy. When non-Mainers think of lobster, we think of a special occasion. The other problem is that it's not really a sandwich. Or is it? I mean, it's protein and condiments served between bread, but you wouldn't necessarily lump it in with a turkey club or a Dagwood. It's more like a fancy Manwich. Take a one-pound lobster and cook it. Roll the meat in some mayo and serve on a crusty hotdog bun. There's an argument to be made either way, but for the sake of this story, we'll call it a sandwich.
I was probably 12 or 13 and the whole family was on a two-week road trip up the East Coast when I ate my first lobster roll. We were somewhere down east, north of Portland, when we pulled over to a dockside restaurant. Well, 'restaurant' is maybe a stretch. It was one of those kinds of places you stand outside, order at a window and eat off paper plates at a picnic table. I wanted a cheeseburger, but it was too expensive. We had a $5 limit. So I went with the only thing that fit the budget—the most delicious sandwich I've ever had in my life.
I've tried making them on my own. I've bought one of those pathetic lobsters that rest at the bottom of the green-water tank next to the butcher's counter at my local supermarket. But where the one in Maine was succulent, mine was rubbery, and where the first one was a taste explosion, mine was bland. I've also tried replacing the lobster with shrimp—both frozen and boiled. That was a little better. But after several experimentations, I've found the easiest version to make when you don't have access to fresh-from-the-ocean lobster—seafood salad from my local deli.
When I make the sandwiches for this series, I tend to draw attention from the people around the office. So I decided to feed as many people for $10 this time as I possibly could. So, I went to the deli with a 10 in my pocket and came back with enough to provide a lunch for myself and three of my coworkers. And you know what? They loved it. Here's what I bought and did.
What You Need
- 1 lb. seafood salad
- 4 fresh bakery-made hotdog buns
- .1 lb loose spinach (one small clamshell container from the salad bar)
What You Do
1. Slice fresh buns and put into a 350-degree oven for four to five minutes or until toasted.
2. Remove the stems from the loose spinach leaves and line the bottom of the open buns.
3. Spoon in seafood salad. Make sure it heaps, creating a small mound in the center.
The seafood salad and buns cost me $7. I bought a two-liter of Diet Coke and a small bags of chips from the vending machine and still had $.15 left over. Was it like that experience in Maine? Not quite. It was delicious, however, and it scored me some serious points around the office.
That beats the heck out of spending $10 for a nasty burger at Applebee's.
