5/23/2006 11:39:00 AM|||Jodie Chase|||

I like ham. I've always enjoyed a slice of expertly smoked ham with
scalloped potatoes, and it's the meat I want on my sandwich. Black
Forest ham is my favorite. But ham has calories, tons of them, and
more salt than any human should eat at one sitting. So I avoid ham.

But last week as I perused the aisles of Trader Joe's, looking for
anything that would make for an interesting meal, I picked up a
package of prosciutto. It was small and light, with just a few
paper-thin slices inside. The entire package amounts to less in
volume than the ham I would thunk onto my plate for a single meal. After reading
the fat and calorie counts, I decided this might be a legal
substitute for the ham I have tried so hard to nix from my diet.

I put it into my cart along with a fresh baguette and headed back
to the office. Since I had brought only a tomato and some lettuce for
lunch, I twisted off a corner of the baguette, pulled out a single slice of the proscuitto and headed to my desk for my usual computer-side lunch. I tried to focus on cleaning out email, but I couldn't. I was too busy marveling at the
deliciousness of my ultra-simple meal. The hint of ham on crusty
bread was so good that I had it the following day as well. Then I put the package in the freezer, afraid the busy-ness of the days ahead would cause me to forget the ham and let it go to waste.

A few days later, as I was preparing a panini for my daughter, I
remembered the prosciutto. I pulled out the package, and pulled off a
slice. It's so thin that it thawed instantly. I tucked it into her
sandwich along with some tomatoes, some blue cheese spread made with
>no-fat sour cream, and some grilled peppers and onions. She took one
bite of the panini and smiled. At that moment, I decided that prosciutto would no longer be an occasional ingredient at our house. It will be a staple.
--Jolene Thym

|||114840986267512082|||When Less is More