It’s my birthday today! Are you guys big on celebrating your birthday? For as long as I remember, my birthday has been an obsession of mine. It’s probably just a bit (okay, a lot) egotistical, but I just love the idea of a day celebrating me. I like planning elaborate themed parties with tons of friends (DIY grilled cheese party anyone?), but I also love the flip side of that – spending a day celebrating, just me and my boo.
No matter what I end up doing, there is one absolute must: eat ALL the things. It’s the one day you shouldn’t hold back. I know, I know, veggie sandwiches aren’t what one usually thinks of when they’re thinking about birthday eats, but when I saw this glorious picture of the ultimate veggie sandwich on Instagram, it had to be mine. I’m all about veggie sandwiches (and pizzas too, to be honest). I love the the different textures, the crunch, and the freshness.
This sandwich was truly epic – perfect for a pre-birthday treat!
The Ultimate Veggie Sandwich Recipe
makes 1 sandwich
- 2 slices bread of choice (I used multigrain)
- mayo and mustard, to taste
- 6 leaves romaine lettuce
- 1 small carrot
- 1/2 small cucumber
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1/8 head red cabbage
- 1 avocado
- handful of sprouts
- 3 slices tomato
- thin slices red onion
Start off by prepping your vegetables. Trip the lettuce leaves to the size of your bread. Julienne or shred the carrot, thinly slice the cucumber and cabbage. Pit and peel the avocado and thickly slice. Toast the bread and let cool (so it doesn’t get soggy). Spread on mayo and mustard to taste and build your sandwich: 1/2 of the lettuce leaves, carrots, cucumber, salt and pepper, cabbage, avocado, sprouts, tomato, onion, then the remaining lettuce and top slice of bread. Wrap tightly in parchment paper or wax paper and slice in half. Enjoy immediately!
i put a candle in it, because birthday :)
Giveaway: I hope you guys like chopping vegetables (and everything else) because for my annual birthday giveaway, I’m giving away a shiny sharp Shun Nakiri knife and a Walnut Boos Block Cutting Board from cuttingboard.com. I absolutely LOVE my nakiri and there’s nothing better than chopping and slicing on a beautiful wood cutting board.
To Enter: Leave a comment below with your favorite birthday memory. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and notify them through email. Open to US residents only. (Sorry international friends!) Also, if you’d like some extra entries (one per follow), follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (and let me know in your comment). Contest ends September 17th at 12pm PST. Good luck!
Update: Congrats Willow! Get ready to get your knife skills on! Keep an eye out for an email :)
ahhh I’m so bad at remembering the birthdays…. in our 20s my November baby friends starting combining our birthdays into one. We always go to dinner and eat yummy food that’s always good :) This year I turn 28 and have a trip planned to Portland!
I followed you on Instagram as well
Happy birthday! This sandwich looks amazing.
I think one of my favorite memories was my 18th birthday. I went to Warped Tour in Portland with some friends. And one of the bands (a pretty popular one too) actually brought another girl and I onstage, and we had a crowd surfing race. The guys were really cool, they signed a shirt and gave it to me and I still have it.
I follow you on instagram, facebook, and pinterest. :)
Every year mom and dad let me pick where I had my party and we’d invite my entire class. I remember going to Chuck E Cheese, the bowling alley, and the skating rink when I was younger. The best birthday parties started when I hit high school and they let us run wild at the house. They’d let my friend’s band play and we’d eat pizza until we were sick. Those were good times, but I doubt the neighbors would agree.
Happy Birthday! Mine was last week, and it was probably one of the best I have had yet. My boyfriend and were staying in Asheville, North Carolina and we got up and enjoyed some delicious donuts and then hiked to the top of one of the most beautiful mountains on the blue ridge parkway!!
My best birthday memory was turning 30 in Spain. My husband and I visited the Alhambra, went to an Arab bath, and finished the day with an amazing dinner and bottle of wine.
For my 25th birthday I invited 5 friends and cooked a 5-course meal. We each brought a bottle of wine from my birth year (1981) and enjoyed a great evening of aged wine and good food (I hope).
Love the blog. I am now following you on facebook, twitter, instagram and pinterest.
Beautiful sandwich!
My favorite birthday memory was turning 21 in Hong Kong where I studied abroad. I remember being a little bummed that I wasn’t turning 21 with all my college friends back home but it was wild spending this night with friends I’d only known for a month but it was a great occasion for all of us to just get together, cook food that we missed, and go out to LKF on a random weeknight. Being a student in another country was great! Always glad I’ll have that memory.
One of the best birthday memories was’t mine but my father’s 60th. We ate at French Bistro, lots of good food, and good wine. Afterward we went an saw a local Country Music Act and danced the night away.
I had a Funshine Bear cake for my fifteenth (because Care Bears are and will always be the coolest) and about five seconds after I blew the candle out, my face wash smashed into it. The most epic cake fight followed and we were finding icing all over the house for weeks. Definitely won’t be forgetting that one. I can’t believe I wasn’t already following you on Instagram, but I am now. Happy Birthday!!
My favorite birthday memory was from a few years ago when I was in Japan. I had just finished my summer abroad program and my mom had come to visit and explore the country with me for the rest of summer vacation. We went to Koyasan to stay in a temple with some monks. We had just checked into the temple and were carrying our luggage upstairs. About halfway up the staircase, a young apprentice monk (probably in his late teens) tried to take my luggage and carry it upstairs. I had been in Japan for awhile and had packed my luggage to the brim; it probably weighed around 45- 50 lbs. I tried to rebuff him saying I could carry it up the stairs myself, but he was extremely persistent and eventually grabbed the luggage from me. He definitely didn’t expected it to be that heavy and ended falling back down he stairs face first. I felt terrible and ended up buying him some ice cream to apologize. The next morning, I was late for the early morning prayer (5:30 or 6 am) and was getting dressed, when the same monk bursts into my room and tries to hurry me out the door. He eventually realized I didn’t have pants on and ran back out of the room. At the time, I was mortified but in hindsight, I find these memories to be hilarious.
Also, the monks know how to make amazing food and the woods around the temple were beautiful and fun to explore despite all the mosquitoes.
P.S. I follow you on Instagram.