Deconstructed food can be a point of contention among foodies. Is it innovative and creative or is it now just an overused gimmick?
Well, the other day I ventured into deconstruction kind of unintentionally. I had a lot of beets, so I made an absolutely enormous pot of borscht with the idea of putting some in the freezer for later use. Because it was such a huge amount, I decided to shred the cabbage and beets and onions in the food processor instead of chopping everything by hand. But having these tiny shredded pieces kind of threw off the proportions of vegetable matter to liquid. There was just too much shredded vegetable flotsam and not quite enough stock.
So to fix the soup, I used a sieve to pull out some of the vegetable matter, leaving a thinner soup behind. And I then I thought, wouldn’t the drained borscht dregs make a good sandwich filling? It was just a mess of tasty, slow-cooked, beef-stock-soaked vegetables, after all. Well, the sandwich was delicious. I slathered sourdough with sour cream and parsley (my two favorite borscht condiments), then piled the vegetables high in between. And I love how it’s a visual pun on a pastrami sandwich, with the red juice soaking into the bread. and the sour cream taking the place of mayo. Yum!
Gradually Greener 
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