This super easy, 7-ingredient, plant-based (vegan) Open Faced Sandwich with Sugar Beets and Shaved Fennel is based on the food traditions of Scandinavia, where half of my family lives by way of my husband Peter. When you visit countries in Scandinavia, such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland, one of the first things you may notice on the menu are beautiful open faced sandwiches, available in home kitchens, work cafeterias, and restaurants across the land. These delicious sandwiches are artistic affairs, boasting a medley of colorful foods balanced gracefully on top of a slice of rustic whole grain bread. That single bottom slice of bread is often topped with a swirl of creamy stuff, bright greens, jewel-toned root veggies, and delicate fresh herbs. These sandwiches are often built upon the traditional bread called crispbread (in Swedish, its called knäckebröd)—a long lasting, shelf-stable hard bread that helped offer sustenance to cold Scandinavian countries over the centuries. This firm bread can hold up to a variety of toppings on pretty open faced sandwiches. Crispbread is still a key feature of Scandinavian traditional diets, and you can find it in many well stocked supermarkets in the U.S. today.
So, why not turn to open faced sandwiches as pretty as this? When you leave off the top slice of bread on your sammy, you can show off all of that prettiness. Who needs to cover up gorgeous vegan sandwich fillings like these: crisp leaves of lettuce, creamy white vegan cheese, zesty fuchsia pickled beets, slivers of licorice-flavored fennel, a dollop of cultured almond yogurt, and a sprig of lacy fennel fronds. Another benefit of open faced sandwiches is that you can really heap up the colorful plant foods on your sandwich. You can get a whole platter of these healthy sandwiches done in minutes.
These pretty vegan Open Faced Sandwich with Sugar Beets and Shaved Fennel are based on the traditions of Scandinavia—make them up in 10 minutes with only 7 ingredients!
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