There is no flavour I love more in the world than dill. Really. Cucumbers, however, as much as I like them, cause me much pain and grief, thanks to my diverticulitis. Do you suffer from the same? Try cutting all of the skin off the cucumber. It helps, trust me.

These sandwiches go perfectly with a nice hot cup of jasmin tea — great flavour combination!

Ingredients:

• 2 small (preferably seedless) cucumbers
• 2 teaspoons of kosher salt
• 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon of fresh dill chopped
• 6 slices of rye or whole-wheat bread
• 8 oz of semi-soft cheese or cream cheese

Method:

Slice cucumbers crosswise into 1/8 – inch – thick slices. Place cucumber slices in a medium bowl and toss with salt. Let cucumbers stand 15 minutes. Rinse and drain cucumbers. Pat dry with paper or tea towels (using tea towels saves the paper waste!).

In another bowl whisk together, vinegar, sugar, mustard, and dill until sugar is dissolved. Stir in cucumber and let stand a minimum of 5 minutes — it thickens!

Spread cheese on 6 slices of bread in a thin layer. Layer cucumber slices on top of 3 slices of bread in a thin layer. Top with remaining bread and remove crusts. Cut sandwiches into halves, quarters, or triangles.

I’m very excited! Topia Greenstop has invited me to spend the day at their Real Café tomorrow. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures/videos and report back with my impressions.

I’m really looking forward to checking out their selection of preservative free food.  Which reminds me — let me give you some background concerning my various digestive special needs. Oh, there are many.

I’ve been allergic to a handful of preservatives (such as benzoates, nitrates and sulfites)  since I was about 16 and it makes choosing food at a grocery store quite a task.  If I choose wrong I could end up being very sick! Pre-bagged salad leaves me curled up in pain with cold sweat and nausea — talk about an day-ruiner.  And pre-mixed drinks like alcoholic coolers, lemonades, and iced tea? Same story. I’ve left many a backyard BBQ party early due to certain unnamed hard lemonades. *ahem*

On top of being allergic to these preservatives I, like my grandmother before me, have diverticulitis.  Diverticulitis is a digestive disease which – in layman’s terms – means that my body is creating little pouches in my intestines and deciding to store foods there that it has chosen to not digest. This may or may not prove to be a problem for me in my trials with organic food. Whole grains and fresh fruit and vegetables tend to hurt my stomach but my experience with them is limited to standard grocery store food.

Topia, however, pride themselves on natural, organic, and preservative-free food — which is great for someone like me! I’m curious to see what a difference organic, preservative-free food makes. Be sure to check back for my picture and video tour of the store!