(above image is not the og veg sandwich but a twist version instead!)

I have converted many of my friends onto this version of a vegetarian sandwich. I will give you the original recipe and then I will give you all the versions!

Original my version of a “1990’s vegetarian sandwich”

• BREAD Has to be this bread. When I was in high school in the 90’s it was called “squaw” bread but they now call it “Dark Sweet Wheat Artisan Bread” because the original was offensive – Oh the 90’s!

• MAYONNAISE (your fav brand)

• DIJON MUSTARD (I prefer this) we all remember the epic commercial of “excuse me, do you have any Grey Poupon?”

• CHEESE (I like a Havarti or Muenster Cheese for this sandwich but really any cheese will do)

• RED ONIONS Thinly sliced red onions – just a touch, you don’t want it to overpower the sandwich!

• AVOCADO thin sliced, lightly smooshed on bread, with some course grain salt & pepper on top

• TOMATOS Sliced juicy red tomatoes

• CARROTS Shredded carrots

• PICKLES – your fav I like these 

• SPROUTS – I know this is controversial but sprouts are part of the original version. (some people say sprouts are super dirty and carry a lot of bacteria and others say they have great health benefits. I always wash my sprouts super thoroughly and then pat dry with a paper towel)

Thats it! Cut at a diagonal and enjoy!

Alright. Now that we have the og out of the way here are all the alternatives:

BREAD – Obviously I LOVE the “Dark Sweet Wheat Artisan Bread” but I don’t always have that in my fridge so a whole wheat will do as well. Or thick country style bread would also be delicious but I would either lightly toast the thick country style bread or warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it easier to bite.

MAYO – So… instead of mayo you can use a pesto. (I have a good recipe here.) A green goddesss dressing which I believe is in the picture above. I also at the end like to drizzle a little olive oil on top of the lettuce or whatever ends up on top. Maybe I might throw some course salt and freshly ground pepper on top of the olive oil. I like this olive oil. 

MUSTARD – I almost always use grey poupon mustard. It’s just a standard I can’t stop.

CHEESE – I have used every kind of cheese for this bread. Usually whatever I have on hand. I love a good, strong English or Irish cheddar for this too. Sometimes a manchego or even sometimes a brie or a cream cheese. It’s kind of whatever I am feeling or have on hand. In my opinion, Trader Jo’s has the best cheese selection ever.

RED ONIONS – So I usually always use red onion too but they have to be THINLY sliced or they will overpower. I also have a great pickled onion recipe here. You can also use green onions here sliced the long way!

AVOCADO – This really is the star of a vegetarian sandwich so just don’t skip this okay? And you have to do it like I said to: Avocado thin sliced, lightly smooshed on bread, with some course grain salt & pepper on top.

TOMATOES – The juicier and redder the better! I also love an heirloom tomato here.

CARROTS – Are great but here is a bevy of other ideas to put in your sandwich: olives, sun-dried tomatoes, red bell peppers, red cabbage, marinated artichokes, radishes or anything else you can think of!

PICKLES – Or cucumbers! Or both! Really can’t go wrong here!

SPROUTS – Or micro greens, or arugula, or little gem, or romaine, or butter lettuce or whatever is your fav!

I make a different version of this sandwich every time and this is requested most times from my vegetarian friend. It’s just a delicious sandwich that reminds us all of our old hippie health food store veg sandwich!