Cheesy Vegetable Sandwiches

These open-faced vegetarian sandwiches pack a surprising amount of texture and flavor into a very lean package. The base is a chunky cottage cheese spread loaded with shredded carrot, chopped mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, celery, radishes, green onion, and dried basil.

Each slice of whole wheat toast gets half a cup of that cottage cheese mixture spread across it, then low-fat cheese slices cut into triangles arranged on top. Under the broiler for a few minutes and the cheese melts into a golden blanket over the crunchy vegetable filling.

The cottage cheese base does double duty: it holds all the vegetables together and keeps the toast from getting soggy before it hits the broiler. With everything loaded with crunch — radishes, celery, sprouts, carrot — the texture contrast against the melted cheese is genuinely satisfying.

Serve immediately while the cheese is hot and the toast is still crisp.

Kitchen Tips

• Toast the bread before adding the topping — a pre-toasted base holds up better under the broiler than raw bread
• Cut each cheese slice into four triangles and overlap them slightly for even coverage and better melt
• Watch the broiler; processed cheese melts fast and can start to bubble and brown within 2 minutes
• Pat mushrooms dry before chopping so the mixture doesn’t get watery

Variations

• Use Swiss or cheddar instead of processed cheese for better flavor at slightly higher calories
• Add a pinch of garlic powder or red pepper flakes to the cottage cheese mixture for more kick