Anne Can Cook

Part of the deal with this year of service is that I live at the poverty level. The results of that, so far, is that I live where the rent is cheap and the grocery stores are non existent. I buy my groceries in the next town over. The trouble is, if I run out of something I'm basically out of luck. Or, to look at it in a more positive light, I have to result to my wits and creativity to replace it. Such is the case with the epic lunch time sandwich I made myself yesterday.
I don't currently have any deli meat, but I do have heat and eat bacon. A guilty pleasure, I know, but the bacon is delicious regardless. I decided to make myself a version of a BLT and take it to work with me. I had bacon, I had bread, and I had baby romaine lettuce. I really hate tomatoes, so I usually substitute cheese. In typical Anne fashion, I had plenty of cheese.
Unfortunately for me, my baby romaine met an untimely end at the mercy of my too cold refrigerator. It froze, turning it into a bitter, mushy, wilted mess.
I decided to proceed with the plan anyway. I cut the bread, laid out the cheese and bacon, and searched for a green. What I found was basil. I have quite a bit of basil from my mom's herb garden. I plucked a few leaves from the stem I keep in my vegetable keeper, rolled them up, sliced them, and sprinkled them on my sandwich. The BBC was born. It was a successful experiment. The basil complemented the bacon perfectly. For the record, I used fontina cheese which I believe was the perfect choice. A nice mozzerella would suffice in a pinch, though.
After my pesto disaster last week, I caved and bought pre-made pesto from the store. So far this has been a wise choice. I'm finding the pesto to be an extremely flexible sauce. I've used it on pasta (obviously), on garlic bread, and on today's lunch.
I can't claim any cooking prowess for either of my lunches, but I am very proud of the assembly and outcome of both. Today was an Italian/Southwestern Chicken Fusion Wrap. Pesto on the Range, if you will. I used a jalapeno cheddar tortilla, the pesto (of course), Southwestern seasoned chicken, and mozzerella cheese. It was delicious--spicy and basil-y. I'm finding that I'm really enjoying making myself lunch to bring to work.
Hopefully the next time I write, I'll have actually cooked something. I just ordered a new (to me) cook book this afternoon that's all about cooking for one.