Try your turkey and swiss “half and half.”
Photo courtesy Sargento.

When serving sandwiches, offer a variety of condiments and recommend that diners mix and match: one half of a roast beef, ham or turkey sandwich with chutney, one half with Roquefort Dijon mustard, for example. It’s like having two different sandwiches, and just one way in which specialty condiments transform everyday foods into gourmet treats.

We love the Dijon mustards of Laurent du Clos so much, we can eat them from the jar—especially the amazing Roquefort mustard. Other favorites include the Saffron Aïoli mayonnaise from Restaurant Lulu and the fabulous flavored mayos from The Ojai Cook—all Top Picks Of The Week.

We eat lots of Mediterranean foods, often with pita bread from the supermarket that isn’t as flavorful as we’d like it to be. So when we spotted Canterbury Naturals flatbread mix, “just add oil and water,” we eagerly set out to bake our own flatbread (not with pockets like pita, but hopefully more exciting).

We were not disappointed! Warm from the oven, we proudly served our eight handmade, individual-size flatbreads, highly seasoned with a “Mediterannean” herb mix of basil, bell pepper, chile, fennel, garlic, marjoram, onion, oregano, parsley and thyme. Once they cool down they get a bit dry (like pita), but can easily be warmed in the microwave. After two days of storage in our Fresh Vac food storage containers, they still warmed up nicely.

While there are recipes aplenty to make flatbread from scratch, don’t underestimate the convenience of a packaged mix. It was easy, delicious and impressive! We mixed the package ingredients into a dough with some olive oil and water, kneaded it briefly, let it rise for 30 minutes, divided and rolled the dough into eight flat pieces, brushed the tops with olive oil and sprinkled them with the seasoning blend. The flatbreads baked for six minutes and cooled for a few minutes. Aside from the rising and cooking time, prep was no more than 10 minutes, using one bowl and one cookie sheet.

Impress your friends and family with home-baked flatbread. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

In addition to Mediterranean Savory Herb, the mix is available in Parmesan and Sundried Tomato. The attractive boxes make a nice house gift or stocking stuffer for your favorite cook. The product is certified kosher by KOF-K.

If you’re taking a break from your labors today, explore the wide world of sandwiches in our new Sandwich Glossary. We feature 65 different sandwiches available in the U.S., from the popular PB&J and BLT to the more exotic bánh mì and Monte Cristo. There are many more types of sandwich, of course, but see how many of our featured sandwiches you’ve tried.

The Reuben sandwich is a specialty of New York delicatessens. Photo © J. Java | Fotolia.

Cheese producer Sargento has declared August National Panini Month. It’s National Sandwich Month, so why shouldn’t panini, Italian sandwiches, share the glory?

To celebrate, we’re bringing you eight delicious recipes, courtesy of Sargento and Chef Jason Denton. If you don’t have a panini maker, you can use an electric countertop grill or a gas grill. There’s everything from tuna to mozzarella, tomato and pesto (a Caprese salad on a sandwich!) to ham and Swiss with fig jam. Dig in!

With sharp provolone, pesto and arugula, this
panini is not your everyday turkey sandwich. Photo courtesy of Sargento.

The doctor is in… with some new flavors! We’ve been curing what ailed our snacking taste buds since 2005, when we first discovered Dr. Kracker’s organic crackers and flatbreads. The company has recently launched Culinary Crisps: crunchy squares of Apple Crisps, Cherry Semolina Crisps, Fire Roasted Crisps and Hummus Maximus Crisps. Diagnosis? Delicious!

Dr. Kracker starts with organic whole wheat or spelt; then adds organic flax, sunflower, sesame and/or pumpkin seeds. But because it was asked for more “foodie” flavors, the company added additional ingredients to create the new Culinary Crisps line. Each serving of bite-size crisps delivers the delectable flavors of toasted seeds, plus 21g or more whole grains per serving (of your daily 48g requirement).

Snack idea: Hummus Maximus Crisps with red pepper hummus. Photo by Emily Chang | THE NIBBLE.

Though the crackers add a zing to any soups, dips, or cheeses they’re paired with, they’re just as satisfying when eaten by themselves. Keep a box at work for a healthy snack. But even with all the good prognoses, there’s still a major downside to these cartons of square treasures: Something like this would never last in our desk for very long!

Read our full review of Dr. Kracker, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

The familiar melba toast now has lots of
spicy flavor that lingers on the palate.

“New Bold Flavor” proclaims the box of All Natural Melba Snacks. No kidding: Old London has managed to make Melba Snacks taste like a spicy chip has fused with the familiar toast. The toasts have as long an aftertaste as we’ve found in a while: The spices dance on the palate for ten minutes after the last bite.

This is not your mother’s bland, diet melba toast, but a very savory and crunchy snack, accompaniment to soups and salads (try it as a giant crouton, with or without melted cheese), base for hors d’oeuvres or dipper. The three peppers are not specified in the ingredients list (only “spices”), but the toasts include oat fiber, pinto beans, molasses, garlic, onion, distilled vinegar, natural flavor and sesame oil.

Four rounds have 50 calories and 5g whole grain. The product is cholesterol-free and certified kosher by OU.

By the way, melba toast is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the internationally renowned Australian opera singer (born Helen Porter Mitchell, 1861-1931). In 1897, when the singer was unwell, the toast was made for her by chef Auguste Escoffier (a fan who also created the dessert, Peach Melba) at London’s Savoy Hotel. The bread was lightly toasted and cut longitudinally instead of diagonally; the pieces were then re-toasted to crisp the bread. Dame Melba liked it so much that the preparation became a staple of her diet. The hotel manager, César Ritz, supposedly named the toast in a conversation with his chef and partner, Escoffier. The following year, Ritz left the Savoy and opened the celebrated Hôtel Ritz in the Place Vendôme in Paris, with Escoffier.

- The kids might prefer this “Peanut Butter Monstwich” monster sandwich recipe.
- Find some of our favorite gourmet mustards to put on your soft pretzels.
- Read the history of mustard.
- Take our Pretzel Trivia Quiz.
- It may seem like a bit “duh,” but here’s a definition of “soft pretzel.”

Here’s more versatility: You, the baker, add the sweetener of your choice—sugar, evaporated cane juice or agave—which makes these products an ideal choice not only for celiacs, but for diabetics and other consumers with dietary concerns.

See gluten-free foods reviewed by THE NIBBLE.

We couldn’t resist the twist. We ate the whole bag. No additional dip is needed, but for those who like to indulge, go for something with sour cream and onion or chives.

Get some Twisted Grandma Pretzels as a gift for your favorite garlic lover. Note to Twisted Grandma: With your name and look, you should start a band. TwistedGrandma.com.

- Take our pretzel trivia quiz and learn fun pretzel trivia.

- Discover more of our favorite savory snacks.

- Make your own with this soft pretzel recipe.

We recently tasted all seven chocolate varieties in one sitting and found the original Deep Chocolate to have the most satisfying chocolate flavor (it contains chocolate chips). In retrospect, that’s not much of a surprise: the semisweet chocolate flavor of the chips is taken away when white chips, PB chips, pomegranate and fig are substituted in the other flavors.

Vitalicious, the manufacturer apprises us that you can walk off the 80-100 calorie VitaTops in 13-15 minutes. Share a muffin top, coffee and a stroll with a friend.

A box of chocolate VitaTops goes on our list of Valentine gifts for people you love too much to send a box of chocolate. Gift certificates are available. Read the full review at http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/nutri/breadstuffs/vitalicious-vitamuffin.asp.