FOUR FANTASTIC VEGETARIAN SANDWICHES FROM THE HERB GARDEN CAFE...WITH LOVE

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Hendersonville, North Carolina (MOTHER's home base) may be a quiet little settlement (in fact — most nights — you can hear a pine needle drop after 10 o'clock), but it's blessed with two excellent natural food restaurants . . . which is more than most small mountain towns (and some real cities) can boast!

We've already told you about The Merry Miller and shared some of Leona Farquhar's recipes with you (see the centerfolds in Issue Nos. 46 and 49), and now we'd like to introduce you to Paul Corpening and Deborah Dunn ... owners and operators of The Herb Garden Cafe

Paul and Deborah opened their place (which does indeed look like an indoor herb garden) on a shoestring, and have only recently been able to hire their first paid helper (Lynda Flanagan, who's on the left in the picture). But being short of hands hasn't prevented the young entrepreneurs from dishing up consistently delectable fare . . . which brings us to the real subject of this article! Along with many other good foods, the cafe serves sandwiches made (for the most part) of perfectly ordinary, everyday ingredients . . . yet somehow those plump meals-in-themselves always turn out to be extraordinarily tasty.

The secret, say Deborah and Paul, is in the freshness and wholesomeness of their sandwich "fixings" . . . and in the wonderful breads in which those fixings are nestled. The Herb Garden Cafe, you see, gets its whole grain loaves right out of the oven, from a local husband-and-wife-team small home bakery called Our Daily Bread.

And that team, Richard and Marilyn Colgan, not only turn out—unassisted-many varieties of warm, crusty bread each week (varieties like Black Russian, Sourdough Rye, Swedish Limpa Rye, Herb and Onion, Sprouted Wheat, and Yogurt Wheat Germ), but they also produce and sell large batches of creamy, delicate tofu. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Watch for more about the. Colgans and their business in an upcoming issue.)

Now, you may not have such a good source of bread and soybean curd at your fingertips (unless you make your own), but you can still put together superlative sandwiches like the ones pictured here if you faithfully follow Paul and Deborah's recipes.