Open Face Smoked Salmon Breakfast Sandwich

If you crave smoked salmon and cream cheese on a freshly toasted bagel, you will love this breakfast starter. You can make it in minutes. Salmon is full of omega-3 essential fats that we need in our healthy diet. Don’t be afraid to use a tablespoon of whipped, full- fat cream cheese; it’s deeply satisfying and brings everything together in this quick, grab and go dish.

1 slice whole grain marbled rye bread
1 tablespoon organic whipped cream cheese
½ teaspoon capers, drained
2 thin slices smoked salmon (about 1 ounce)
1 small ripe tomato, cut into ½-inch slices
Thinly sliced red onion
Chopped fresh dill
A pinch of sea salt and a grind of fresh pepper

Toast the bread and place onto your serving plate. Spread the cream cheese onto the toast. Sprinkle the cream cheese with capers. Lay the salmon on the cream cheese. Top with tomato slices, red onion and a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the sandwich into two triangle halves and munch away.

Yield: 1 sandwich
Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Sources and Substitutions
Thinly sliced whole grain pumpernickel or whole wheat bread is a fine substitution for this sandwich. If you are a tuna lover, you can replace the salmon with tuna. Substitute any fresh herb that you have on hand. Parsley and even tarragon are great. You can add chopped hard boiled egg and slices of fresh cucumber for a bigger, bolder breakfast sandwich. Tomatoes, onion and parsley are filled with antioxidants. The capers add a punch of flavor.

Thinly sliced whole grain rye, pumpernickel or whole grain bread is dense and filling. Each slice has less than 100 calories, compared to a large pumpernickel bagel, which has 320 calories. You can find whole grain breads in the bakery section of your grocery store, the local bakery, or as the finished product from you own kitchen bread maker.

You can’t beat the flavor of cream cheese. By choosing the whipped variety, you have air whipped into the product, so you end up using less cream cheese on your open face sandwich. Choose good quality smoked salmon for this dish.