A quick bread salad for breakfast

My wife didn't know what to have for breakfast today, so I served her an open-face sandwich of melted Spanish Manchego sheep-milk's cheese on thin, broad slices of the pain de siegle rye bread I picked up yesterday at Balthazar Bakery in Englewood (see post, "Shopping notes"). Before I put them under the broiler for about five minutes, I added sliced plum tomato, Italian seasoning and extra-virgin olive oil.

When she finished, I was surprised to see she had trimmed off all of the wonderful, now-crispy but cheese-less crust. I scooped up the pieces, grabbed some organic salad greens from the fridge and cut up the rest of the plum tomato, then drizzled all with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

I ate the salad with a red salmon-tuna salad sandwich with sliced Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, sides of kimchi and Korean-style stewed tofu, and black tea.

Shopping notes

In one trip to Englewood today, I shopped at three of my favorite places for food -- H Mart, Balthazar Bakery and Jerry's Gourmet, where I sampled cheese and wine.

H Mart was almost empty, because the street was blocked by police for Veterans Day. I looked over the blue crabs, large Chilean sea bass fillets and fresh fish, then bought a Korean roll made with rice, vegetables and crab (not sure if it is artificial) and wrapped in seaweed ($4.99). I've sometimes heard this called finger maki. I also picked up plum tomatoes, a head of escarole and fresh collard greens. (25 Lafayette Ave., 201-871-8822.)

At Balthazar Bakery, I bought a quarter of the signature pain de siegle (sliced), a large, round, sourdough rye bread with a "B" stamped in the crust ($3.75 for a quarter). I looked longingly at the wonderful fruit tarts and other pastries, but bought none. (214 S. Dean St., 201-503-9717.)

At Jerry's, an employee was pouring Portuguese and Italian wines to go with the free cheese samples, and I tried them. I had hoped to find three complete dinners with wild fish, such as the Chilean sea bass I had recently, but had to settle for farmed salmon and farmed tilapia. The restaurant-quality dinners are only $6.99.

In the back of the store, there were a couple of cases of imported Pomi marinara sauce, from fresh tomatoes, in aseptic packages that don't need to be refrigerated. At two 26.45-ounce packages for $3.99, they were a good deal. Each would be more than enough for a half-pound of pasta. (410 S. Dean St., 201- 871-7108.)