Philly local Jill Gilber is a contestant in ‘America’s Better Sandwich Contest’

Out of 2900 entries, Philly’s own Jill Gilber has made it to the final round of the “America’s Better Sandwich” contest, presented by Arnold. From now until Oct. 23, you can vote for Gilber and her recipe, “Lox Your Sox Off,” for the “Breakfast in Bread” category. We got to chat with Gilber about what inspired this sandwich and her favorite spot for lox in Philly.

So why did you choose to do a lox sandwich?
It’s been a family favorite for many years. So it’s near and dear to my heart for that reason. My husband and I have two children so I do a lot of cooking — everything from scratch and I’m always looking for healthy alternatives.

Do you like eating lox out in the city?
I don’t make it into Center City often because of distance but I will tell you that there are several delis up this way where I live and Steve Stein’s Famous Deli (1619 Grant Ave) is one of them. It’s been around for many years in this area and they have fantastic lox. It’s one of our go-to places.

How can I make this myself?
Put the bread down first and then you layer in the order of the lox, the tomato, the onion, and then, of course, on each half of the sandwich, there’s the Greek yogurt spread that I had made, which was fantastic.

What’s in the Greek yogurt spread?
It’s yogurt and lemon juice and chopped dill and salt and pepper. So the flavor was definitely there. You’re thinking in your mind, ‘Wow this really is a, you know, close cousin to cream cheese’. It’s all good stuff for you.

What will you do with the money if you win?
Buy lots of lox. No, I’m kidding. That’s such an open question. Of course everyone’s standard line — pay bills, but maybe take a nice vacation or put away for the future. I’m a big advocate for rescue dogs and I always like to participate in some way with helping them.

You can vote for Jill Gilber’s “Lox Your Sox Off” until Oct. 23 by clicking here. For every vote received, Arnold will donate one loaf of bread (up to 100,000 loaves) to Feeding America, its charitable partner.