Many years ago at this point, I flew on JetBlue a time that a Mint seat was shockingly cheap (randomly, it was just one day, one flight, and I #scored). I was spoiled, ruined, and haven't really looked back. I adore the Mint hard product (the single suite!), the soft product (generally, really legit friendly and helpful FAs!), and, well, the food and drink (quality wine! Milk (Bar) cookies! Ice cream!). You can read all about my experiences there (e.g. SFO - BOS, BOS - SFO (2), SFO - JFK (2), JFK - SFO (2, 3), SEA - JFK.)
I did fly in Main Cabin once or twice after that first Mint experience, and discovered some of the food actually isn't that bad. You'll find a few of those reviews below too.
But my more recent trip on JetBlue gave me a chance to, uh, more extensively explore the Main Cabin food and drink offerings, as it was July 2020, and that meant ... COVID. At the time, JetBlue was serving regular main cabin cuisine in Mint. I also returned on JetBlue in January 2021, and snagged my newfound "favorite" sandwich from Main Cabin again, as, well, yes, I love it. If you want a sandwich on a flight, I really do recommend JetBlue's selection ...
Wine
JetBlue offers a single red, white, and sparkling ($8, $8, $9, respectively).
I tried the non-sparkling options. I'm clearly spoiled normally in Mint, and these wines didn't exactly excite.
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| Wines: $8-9. (July 2020). The French Cellar Colombard-Chardonnay White Blend Villa Chavin Expression Du Terroir Merlot. |
Since I usually fly Mint, and thus get the wonderful premium wines, this was my first time trying the main cabin selections. I tried both the red and white available.
The French Cellar Colombard-Chardonnay White Blend
I know I tried this, but, I lost my notes, and have zero memory of it. I think that means, um, highly unmemorable?
The red was ... um ... "inoffensive" but boring? It didn't get better with air either.
It was not too acidic, not too tanic, but also, it was just boring. No complexity to it. But perfectly drinkable if you wanted some simple grape juice to drink ...
EatUp Boxes
JetBlue offers 4 different "EatUp" boxes, their version of curated snack boxes. Each has a theme: #1: FuelUp (Protein Packed), #2 SavorUp (Mediterranean), #3 PickMeUp (cheese platter), #4 PartyUp (snacks!). Each are $9.
I've only ordered the PartyUp previously, as it has a few fun items (it *is* a party box after all, heh), but generally, these don't appeal to me.
I finally opted to try one on a recent flight ...
"Mediterranean Inspired Snack Box."
The SavorUp box includes:
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| SavorUp: $9. |
The SavorUp box includes:
- TRU Flavors Traditional Hummus Dip Ⓤ
- Dipitas Pita Chips (Pareve)
- GoGo Diperz Chipotle Black Bean Dip Ⓤ
- Rustic Bakery Sourdough Flatbread.
- DiBella Blueberry-Lemon Biscotti Ⓤ
Everything was room temperature.
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| Savor Up Box Contents. (July 2020). |
The hummus dip was ... well, hummus. Actually not bad, for hummus. Good flavor. But I'm not a hummus fan in general, so this was obviously lost on me.
The pita chips I *really* did not like.
The chipotle black bean dip I was pretty curious about, but also apprehensive, since I don't tend to like chipotle, and prefer other types of beans to black beans. I didn't like it, but almost did. The bean puree was actually pretty good, nice texture, but, the chipotle was there, and that I just didn't care for.
The sourdough flatbreads (e.g. crackers) I loved actually. The olive oil and sea salt provided plenty of flavor, they were perfectly crispy, and, well, didn't taste like sourdough. Lovely crackers, really, and they paired great with smoked salmon (which of course I had with me!).
And finally, the biscotti. Not a real "dessert" to me, but it was a good biscotti, nice snap to it. Sweet but not too sweet, lemon not overboard, loved the blueberry.
So overall, some nice finds, but most of the box wasn't particularly my thing, as I expected.
I've ordered the salad shakers many times over the years, usually to supplement what I'm having in Mint, and sometimes quite enjoyed them. I never would order the sandwiches, as they are usually chicken or turkey, but in the COVID world ... the hot meal in Mint was replaced with the sandwich from here. And, yes, no options. Just the one. The flight attendant said it was good though, so, I tried it. Spoiler: I didn't hate it!
I also had the salad shaker again, and the cheese plate.
I'm not really excited about mediocre cheeses (I love a great triple cream, a crazy ripe burrata, or a really really well aged cheese, but ... table cheeses? Not normally my thing). I never order cheese platters on flights.
Still, I tried the fancier cheese platter (I mean, I had to complete the wine pairing right?).
Wondering the difference? The EatUp cafe version had only 3 cheeses (Pepper Jack, Smoked Gouda, and Sharp Cheddar), and this had 4, including a brie, the EatUp one had dried cherries rather than apricots, and more generic crackers. Worth $4? If you want brie ...
"Selection of four cheeses, dried apricots, raspberry jam and sea salt olive oil crackers."
The four cheeses seemed to be: brie, cheddar, dill havarti, and swiss? If I was guessing. The raspberry jam was bonne maman and crackers were Rustic Bakery Sourdough Flatbread Olive Oil & Sea Salt, decent brands.
The herbed cheese (havarti?) was my least favorite, a softer cheese, slightly herby, but not very exciting for me.
The cheddar (other rectangle) was actually decent, a slightly dry, flaky, aged style. Same with the swiss (triangle), better than I expected, not an aged dry cheese, but the flavor was more intense than expected.
The brie was ... fine. Not offensive, but not complex, no funk to it.
"Kale, red quinoa, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, chickpeas and feta cheese (packaged separately and can be omitted), shaken with our homemade tahini dressing."
The packaging for the salad was interesting ... in a jar. It was attractive packaging, particularly as you could see the salad layers.
The base was red quinoa, which is where the tahini dressing seemed to be. Above that, shredded kale, free from dressing, so it stayed crisp. The use of a curly kale like this also was a nice choice as it holds up much better than other greens. Then a bunch of cooked chickpeas, halves of cherry tomatoes, and diced up cucumber. There was a small separate container with feta cheese, kept on the side so it could be vegan.
However, it was called a shaker, but, it was full, so there isn't really any room to shake it. You could eat the top, and nothing else. Just the cucumbers, tomatoes, and chickpeas were accessible, no kale, and certainly no quinoa, and thus, no dressing. Unless you did like I did, which is take it with you to the hotel, to have as a light meal before trying to go to bed in a strange time zone.
Anyway, the salad.
The quinoa actually was good, a bit of crunch, lots of flavorful dressing. Are quinoa and tahini my favorite things? Nah, but it tasted pretty healthy, and not bad. The kale, as I said, was really crisp, and I liked that layer quite a bit. I added other dressing to it and enjoyed it.
I skipped the chickpeas because I hate them. I tried the feta, even though I don't generally like it, and again didn't really like it. I was glad it was separate, but really, I wished it had another type of cheese. The cherry tomatoes and cucumbers weren't great, clearly cut long in advance and in a fridge a while.
But the quinoa and kale were satisfying, particularly when paired with some other dressing and crispy snack things I threw on (wasabi peas, mustard pretzels, corn nuts, pumpkin seeds, dried pineapple, dried cranberries).
"Kale, spring mix lettuce, cubed jicama, halved grapes and wild rice, shaken with our homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Served with goat cheese and dry-roasted slivered almonds (packaged separately in container and can be omitted). Gluten-free, vegan (cheese can be omitted)."
This is the second type of salad shaker I've tried from JetBlue, and I was happy to see a salad added back on - for a while there was no salad option, only sandwiches.
Like the previous one though, it was very difficult to deal with logistically - a layered item, which sorta makes sense so they can package it all together, but ... it comes just like this, no bowl or anything, so its impossible to mix it up, or sample the layers. It looks cool this way, but ... sorta fails as a salad delivery device.
It did come with the nuts and cheese separate (but inside), thus making it vegan if necessary, and I guess, nut-free too. I'm not vegan, but I loathe goat cheese, so that aspect made me happy.
The contents were ... ok.
I didn't have the goat cheese, but it looked like a reasonable portion. The sliced almonds were dry roasted, good for crunch, and fairly flavorful, but a bit hard to mix-in and distribute into the salad.
The top layer was red grapes, split in half, juicy, fine, standard. Below that was spring mix, fresh enough, and a good mix of types of lettuces. Under that was cubes of juicy jicama, refreshing, and something I often add to salads, so it was most welcome. I even almost liked the wild rice, slightly al dente, for the chew and texture.
What I didn't really like was the balsamic vinaigrette though, which was concentrated at the bottom. This was a good thing for me in that it didn't really get on anything but the wild rice, but if I had wanted it on the greens, I have no idea how I would have pulled that off.
I luckily had another takeout container with me, and some extra greens, so I extracted the top layers of this into that container, added the nuts, added other dressing, and enjoyed, but it is a bit hard to endorse this as is, given the impractical serving container and dressing I didn't care for.
"Kale, red quinoa, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, chickpeas and feta cheese (packaged separately and can be omitted), shaken with our homemade tahini dressing."
The is the same kind I have had a few years before, again, Mediterranean style (seemed to be the theme. The construction was the same: tahini dressing and red quinoa in the base, shredded kale in the middle, and chickpeas/cucumbers/cherry tomatoes on top. Feta on the side.
When I had it previously, I lamented the packaging, very difficult to mix and eat, and this time they one-upped it: no forks included. Heh. Ooops. Luckily, I had my own silverware (er, plasticware?) and a box of salad, so I just mixed it there.
This is a decent portion, even though packed in so tightly, 410 cal / 20g fat/ 14g protein. It really could use more greens though to make it more enjoyable, and feel like a real salad. Luckily, I had those with me (yes, I brought my own kale and baby spinach base!). #alwaysPrepared
Here you can see the top view, and the little container of feta.
These ... are all very Mediterranean, and ... yeah, I don't like. I removed the feta/cucumbers/tomatoes/chickpeas, and made a little tiny Mediterranean salad for my mom.
I did try a cherry tomato, but yes, meh. It was fine, but, clearly had been refrigerated. I had my own fresh heirlooms with me anyway.
The bottom is where the goodness lie, hence, my annoyance at the packaging. So hard to get to this!
Like before, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the quinoa and the tahini dressing, as neither are things I tend to love. But they work well together, the dressing really was kinda tasty. I do wish it was packaged separately though, as this was just a ton of dressing quinoa, since I was removing the top layer. Still, when mixed with the kale (shockingly crisp, nice small pieces, curly kale), it was good, particularly once I added more greens, my own heirloom tomatoes, and some crunchy corn nuts!
"French baguette, turkey breast, mozzarella "log", arugula, sundreid tomato aioli, basil pesto."
And finally, the sandwich offering, which I'd *never* order, since I don't like turkey, I don't even really care for sandwiches in general, don't love sundried tomato ... and I certainly had no hope for the "fresh" french baguette here ... but my FA said it was delicious, and I saw nearly every FA come get one of the extras after service, so, I took the chance.
It came wrapped in cellophane, and looked ... well, like a premade sando. I questioned why I bothered trying it, feeling bad about wasting. And then I tried it. Spoiler: did not hate.
In case you are curious, it is made for JetBlue by Artisan by Bimmy's, a Long island based small company that makes Grab-N-Go items for foodservice, including grocery stores, hotels, airport concessions, drug stores (Duane Reade carries this sandwich!), and, obviously, airlines.
Yeah. I don't understand. It really wasn't bad.
The bread, a french baguette, wasn't the freshest, obviously, but it was decently crusty on the outside (but yes, a touch ... stale), and very moist inside, since slathered with sooo many sauces (more on that soon).
It was however a large sandwich, maybe I'm just not used to having just a sandwich for a meal as I usually do a smaller sando and pair it with something, but it felt ... very, very large. So. Much. Bread. I was overwhelmed by bread by the end, and just scraped out the fillings (which, again, so good, more on this soon).
Anyway, yes, a full meal, 510 cal / 25g fat / 26g protein. The protein amount surprised me, but I guess the turkey and mozzarella really do add up (and the bread has some?).
It didn't exactly look assembled with, uh, love. No "sandwich artist" took pride in this one.
But, um, what was inside really was good.
First, the best part? The basil pesto! Super, super flavorful, oily in all the right ways, and pine nut free! It was slathered generously over the bottom piece of bread, although it did *not* extend to the right hand side - boo. I loved how it soaked into the bread.
The pesto went well with the mozzarella, a fresh style "log" (literally what it was listed as on packaging), just a single slice in here, but thick, and generous. Unfortunately only on one half of the sandwich, unless you cut it and moved it around, which, I did. Again, no points for assembly, but points for taste.
The turkey was the majority of the filling, turkey breast, thin sliced, slightly smoky even? It has been *years* since I had turkey sandwich meat, but way, way back (like, literally 20+ years), I did like shaved turkey breast (only shaved, very very thinly shaved, in only the way my hometown deli did it). Of course, back then, and yes, now, it was all about the TONS of mayo I had with it. I think the very shaved style helped hide the turkey texture and flavor, as did the mayo. So here, I just tried a little, didn't hate it, and extracted just a little, so I could be responsible and have protein. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't want all the turkey. Like the turkey of my childhood, it went great with the aioli.
The aioli, much like the pesto, was slathered on the bread, this time on top. Sundried tomato, which wasn't too strong, actually just seemed very tomato-y, which was great. Pesto, mozzarella, and tomato is a classic pairing for a reason. And yes, very generously applied (health conscious folks would certainly be scraping this off!), and yes, soaked into the bread, making it all moist and soggy, in a way that worked.
I was honestly very surprised by how flavorful this was, how well the ingredients worked together, and how, well, not super old and stale it seemed. It really would be even better with a fresh tomato component, but I understand why they'd leave that off for freshness reasons. Of course I had my own farmer's market heirloom tomato with me, presliced right before I left for the airport, and I was thrilled I had it with me to really make this shine.
Once I grew sick of the bread, I loved scooping out the soggy bread soaked in pesto, the soggy bread soaked in sundried tomato aioli, and adding arugula, my own heirloom tomato, a touch of mozzarella, and even some turkey, for the "perfect" bite. The flavors were great, and yes, I do like soggy, flavorful bread sometimes ...
"French baguette, turkey breast, mozzarella "log", arugula, sundreid tomato aioli, basil pesto."
Another JetBlue flight, another chance to get one of these sandwiches. Yes, I laugh so hard at myself for how much I love these sandwiches, not even *on* the flight, but the next day for an easy lunch.
This one was assembled much better than my first, but was otherwise exactly the same.
It was absolutely loaded with turkey, considerably more than last time. 2-3x the cheese too. A day old, the bread was a touch stale ... but not really, still very crusty on the outside, a proper baguette.
When you heat or toast it up (recommended if you bring it home!), it gets perfectly crunchy, and comes out excellent. You'd never know it was pre-made, or a day old.
But of course, I don't care about the turkey and bread ...
As I mentioned, this one was much, much better made. You can't see it here but the mozzarella slices, 3 of them, were nicely distributed above the turkey. The bottom piece of bread was slathered, generously, edge to edge, with the pesto, the top piece equally well covered in sundried tomato aioli. Far better than last time with the spreads not going to the edges, and cheese all piled up.
And yes, inside is what is insanely delicious! I don't understand how I love it so much.
The soggy interior bread, slathered with both the tomato aioli (sundried tomatoes, mayo) and the basil pesto (parmesan, basil, garlic, etc), and the soggy arugula that also soaked up all the pesto + aioli ... just, <3. Delicious. Delicious cold, just scooped out of the sandwich with some of the soggy bread. The mozzarella cheese is fine quality, and I like it too. The turkey is ... well, very turkey tasting, and not my thing after a few bites.
It is also fabulous toasted, toasting the whole thing, the cheese in particular is able to shine, melty gooey mozzarella, and when I toast it, I do eat the whole, warm, crusty, kinda great bagguette.
But my fav way is just scooping out cold fillings.
Note to self: yeah, keep getting these ...
EatUp Café ($10 - $12)
The "EatUp Cafe" is a larger menu, "fresh food" options, which always includes a single sandwich, a salad shaker, a fancier cheese platter than the EatUp one, and, in earlier flights, some kind of breakfast offering.I've ordered the salad shakers many times over the years, usually to supplement what I'm having in Mint, and sometimes quite enjoyed them. I never would order the sandwiches, as they are usually chicken or turkey, but in the COVID world ... the hot meal in Mint was replaced with the sandwich from here. And, yes, no options. Just the one. The flight attendant said it was good though, so, I tried it. Spoiler: I didn't hate it!
I also had the salad shaker again, and the cheese plate.
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| Cheese & Crackers. $12. (July 2020). |
Still, I tried the fancier cheese platter (I mean, I had to complete the wine pairing right?).
Wondering the difference? The EatUp cafe version had only 3 cheeses (Pepper Jack, Smoked Gouda, and Sharp Cheddar), and this had 4, including a brie, the EatUp one had dried cherries rather than apricots, and more generic crackers. Worth $4? If you want brie ...
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| Cheese & Crackers: Contents. |
The four cheeses seemed to be: brie, cheddar, dill havarti, and swiss? If I was guessing. The raspberry jam was bonne maman and crackers were Rustic Bakery Sourdough Flatbread Olive Oil & Sea Salt, decent brands.
The herbed cheese (havarti?) was my least favorite, a softer cheese, slightly herby, but not very exciting for me.
The cheddar (other rectangle) was actually decent, a slightly dry, flaky, aged style. Same with the swiss (triangle), better than I expected, not an aged dry cheese, but the flavor was more intense than expected.
The brie was ... fine. Not offensive, but not complex, no funk to it.
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| Mediterranean Salad Shaker. $12. (2019). |
The packaging for the salad was interesting ... in a jar. It was attractive packaging, particularly as you could see the salad layers.
The base was red quinoa, which is where the tahini dressing seemed to be. Above that, shredded kale, free from dressing, so it stayed crisp. The use of a curly kale like this also was a nice choice as it holds up much better than other greens. Then a bunch of cooked chickpeas, halves of cherry tomatoes, and diced up cucumber. There was a small separate container with feta cheese, kept on the side so it could be vegan.
However, it was called a shaker, but, it was full, so there isn't really any room to shake it. You could eat the top, and nothing else. Just the cucumbers, tomatoes, and chickpeas were accessible, no kale, and certainly no quinoa, and thus, no dressing. Unless you did like I did, which is take it with you to the hotel, to have as a light meal before trying to go to bed in a strange time zone.
Anyway, the salad.
The quinoa actually was good, a bit of crunch, lots of flavorful dressing. Are quinoa and tahini my favorite things? Nah, but it tasted pretty healthy, and not bad. The kale, as I said, was really crisp, and I liked that layer quite a bit. I added other dressing to it and enjoyed it.
I skipped the chickpeas because I hate them. I tried the feta, even though I don't generally like it, and again didn't really like it. I was glad it was separate, but really, I wished it had another type of cheese. The cherry tomatoes and cucumbers weren't great, clearly cut long in advance and in a fridge a while.
But the quinoa and kale were satisfying, particularly when paired with some other dressing and crispy snack things I threw on (wasabi peas, mustard pretzels, corn nuts, pumpkin seeds, dried pineapple, dried cranberries).
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| Jicama and Grape Salad Shaker. $12. (2019). |
This is the second type of salad shaker I've tried from JetBlue, and I was happy to see a salad added back on - for a while there was no salad option, only sandwiches.
Like the previous one though, it was very difficult to deal with logistically - a layered item, which sorta makes sense so they can package it all together, but ... it comes just like this, no bowl or anything, so its impossible to mix it up, or sample the layers. It looks cool this way, but ... sorta fails as a salad delivery device.
It did come with the nuts and cheese separate (but inside), thus making it vegan if necessary, and I guess, nut-free too. I'm not vegan, but I loathe goat cheese, so that aspect made me happy.
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| Jicama and Grape Shaker: Contents. |
I didn't have the goat cheese, but it looked like a reasonable portion. The sliced almonds were dry roasted, good for crunch, and fairly flavorful, but a bit hard to mix-in and distribute into the salad.
The top layer was red grapes, split in half, juicy, fine, standard. Below that was spring mix, fresh enough, and a good mix of types of lettuces. Under that was cubes of juicy jicama, refreshing, and something I often add to salads, so it was most welcome. I even almost liked the wild rice, slightly al dente, for the chew and texture.
What I didn't really like was the balsamic vinaigrette though, which was concentrated at the bottom. This was a good thing for me in that it didn't really get on anything but the wild rice, but if I had wanted it on the greens, I have no idea how I would have pulled that off.
I luckily had another takeout container with me, and some extra greens, so I extracted the top layers of this into that container, added the nuts, added other dressing, and enjoyed, but it is a bit hard to endorse this as is, given the impractical serving container and dressing I didn't care for.
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| Another Mediterranean Salad Shaker. $12. (July 2020). |
The is the same kind I have had a few years before, again, Mediterranean style (seemed to be the theme. The construction was the same: tahini dressing and red quinoa in the base, shredded kale in the middle, and chickpeas/cucumbers/cherry tomatoes on top. Feta on the side.
When I had it previously, I lamented the packaging, very difficult to mix and eat, and this time they one-upped it: no forks included. Heh. Ooops. Luckily, I had my own silverware (er, plasticware?) and a box of salad, so I just mixed it there.
This is a decent portion, even though packed in so tightly, 410 cal / 20g fat/ 14g protein. It really could use more greens though to make it more enjoyable, and feel like a real salad. Luckily, I had those with me (yes, I brought my own kale and baby spinach base!). #alwaysPrepared
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| Mediterranean Salad Shaker: Top View. |
These ... are all very Mediterranean, and ... yeah, I don't like. I removed the feta/cucumbers/tomatoes/chickpeas, and made a little tiny Mediterranean salad for my mom.
I did try a cherry tomato, but yes, meh. It was fine, but, clearly had been refrigerated. I had my own fresh heirlooms with me anyway.
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| Mediterranean Salad Shaker: Bottom. |
Like before, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the quinoa and the tahini dressing, as neither are things I tend to love. But they work well together, the dressing really was kinda tasty. I do wish it was packaged separately though, as this was just a ton of dressing quinoa, since I was removing the top layer. Still, when mixed with the kale (shockingly crisp, nice small pieces, curly kale), it was good, particularly once I added more greens, my own heirloom tomatoes, and some crunchy corn nuts!
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| Turkey Caprese Sandwich. $12. (2020) |
And finally, the sandwich offering, which I'd *never* order, since I don't like turkey, I don't even really care for sandwiches in general, don't love sundried tomato ... and I certainly had no hope for the "fresh" french baguette here ... but my FA said it was delicious, and I saw nearly every FA come get one of the extras after service, so, I took the chance.
It came wrapped in cellophane, and looked ... well, like a premade sando. I questioned why I bothered trying it, feeling bad about wasting. And then I tried it. Spoiler: did not hate.
In case you are curious, it is made for JetBlue by Artisan by Bimmy's, a Long island based small company that makes Grab-N-Go items for foodservice, including grocery stores, hotels, airport concessions, drug stores (Duane Reade carries this sandwich!), and, obviously, airlines.
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| Turkey Caprese Sandwich: Unwrapped. |
The bread, a french baguette, wasn't the freshest, obviously, but it was decently crusty on the outside (but yes, a touch ... stale), and very moist inside, since slathered with sooo many sauces (more on that soon).
It was however a large sandwich, maybe I'm just not used to having just a sandwich for a meal as I usually do a smaller sando and pair it with something, but it felt ... very, very large. So. Much. Bread. I was overwhelmed by bread by the end, and just scraped out the fillings (which, again, so good, more on this soon).
Anyway, yes, a full meal, 510 cal / 25g fat / 26g protein. The protein amount surprised me, but I guess the turkey and mozzarella really do add up (and the bread has some?).
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| Turkey Caprese Sandwich: Construction. |
But, um, what was inside really was good.
First, the best part? The basil pesto! Super, super flavorful, oily in all the right ways, and pine nut free! It was slathered generously over the bottom piece of bread, although it did *not* extend to the right hand side - boo. I loved how it soaked into the bread.
The pesto went well with the mozzarella, a fresh style "log" (literally what it was listed as on packaging), just a single slice in here, but thick, and generous. Unfortunately only on one half of the sandwich, unless you cut it and moved it around, which, I did. Again, no points for assembly, but points for taste.
The turkey was the majority of the filling, turkey breast, thin sliced, slightly smoky even? It has been *years* since I had turkey sandwich meat, but way, way back (like, literally 20+ years), I did like shaved turkey breast (only shaved, very very thinly shaved, in only the way my hometown deli did it). Of course, back then, and yes, now, it was all about the TONS of mayo I had with it. I think the very shaved style helped hide the turkey texture and flavor, as did the mayo. So here, I just tried a little, didn't hate it, and extracted just a little, so I could be responsible and have protein. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't want all the turkey. Like the turkey of my childhood, it went great with the aioli.
The aioli, much like the pesto, was slathered on the bread, this time on top. Sundried tomato, which wasn't too strong, actually just seemed very tomato-y, which was great. Pesto, mozzarella, and tomato is a classic pairing for a reason. And yes, very generously applied (health conscious folks would certainly be scraping this off!), and yes, soaked into the bread, making it all moist and soggy, in a way that worked.
I was honestly very surprised by how flavorful this was, how well the ingredients worked together, and how, well, not super old and stale it seemed. It really would be even better with a fresh tomato component, but I understand why they'd leave that off for freshness reasons. Of course I had my own farmer's market heirloom tomato with me, presliced right before I left for the airport, and I was thrilled I had it with me to really make this shine.
Once I grew sick of the bread, I loved scooping out the soggy bread soaked in pesto, the soggy bread soaked in sundried tomato aioli, and adding arugula, my own heirloom tomato, a touch of mozzarella, and even some turkey, for the "perfect" bite. The flavors were great, and yes, I do like soggy, flavorful bread sometimes ...
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| Roast Turkey & Caprese Sandwich. $12. (January 2021). |
Another JetBlue flight, another chance to get one of these sandwiches. Yes, I laugh so hard at myself for how much I love these sandwiches, not even *on* the flight, but the next day for an easy lunch.
This one was assembled much better than my first, but was otherwise exactly the same.
It was absolutely loaded with turkey, considerably more than last time. 2-3x the cheese too. A day old, the bread was a touch stale ... but not really, still very crusty on the outside, a proper baguette.
When you heat or toast it up (recommended if you bring it home!), it gets perfectly crunchy, and comes out excellent. You'd never know it was pre-made, or a day old.
But of course, I don't care about the turkey and bread ...
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| Roast Turkey & Caprese Sandwich: inside. |
And yes, inside is what is insanely delicious! I don't understand how I love it so much.
The soggy interior bread, slathered with both the tomato aioli (sundried tomatoes, mayo) and the basil pesto (parmesan, basil, garlic, etc), and the soggy arugula that also soaked up all the pesto + aioli ... just, <3. Delicious. Delicious cold, just scooped out of the sandwich with some of the soggy bread. The mozzarella cheese is fine quality, and I like it too. The turkey is ... well, very turkey tasting, and not my thing after a few bites.
It is also fabulous toasted, toasting the whole thing, the cheese in particular is able to shine, melty gooey mozzarella, and when I toast it, I do eat the whole, warm, crusty, kinda great bagguette.
But my fav way is just scooping out cold fillings.
Note to self: yeah, keep getting these ...
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