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 :)
That looks like a sandwich I use to eat at a great retreat center. I think the only thing missing is some finely sliced radishes. Yummy.
My best birthday memories were going to the venerable Golden Corral. Chosen as a destination in hopes a group of prepubescent children may confuse such environment from a jungle gym, it was a rather laissez-faire way of hosting a child’s birthday party. But when the bread light came on, fresh buttered bread was all that mattered.
Ended as the chosen birthday destination for 4 years. As opposed to, say, an arcade; which, in retrospect, would have made more sense. Thanks dad.
My wife is always telling me how poor my memory is so this is a recent birthday. For my 40th my wife sent me away for a week with the “boys”. For me a guys weekend is a rare and a very needed thing since I am a stay at home dad who doesn’t have adult conversations very often. Now I know you wanted to have all the “details” but some things are better left unsaid. There was a lot of very nice single malt consumed though. Since my birthday falls near Thanksgiving we all chipped in and prepared different dishes one night and one of my buddies who is an excellent cook was prepping using his Shun chefs knife and I have been very envious of it since. I would love to have a such a beautiful set of tools in my kitchen.
My husband and I are both Active Duty military musicians. We just moved to Hawaii last year away from all of our friends. In conjunction with this move (one of our many through the years), I turned the big 4-0. In my day (I know I sound old), everyone celebrated “Over the Hill” with a party filled with black decorations, food and favors that alluded to the decent into old age. As much as I LOVE the color black from my many years as a professional musician, I wanted to celebrate living….life…..and still being the “new 30″….”new 20″….well, you get the point. Without the luxury of an insta-party with all of our friends, I decided to plan a stay-cation in Waikiki. We stayed at the Outrigger Waikiki Resort and made the weekend into a 4-0 festivus. It was a weekend to remember! DAY 1: Sicilian food that was delicious at Taormina. DAY 2: (B-day) I won a magnum of Veuve Clicquot in an auction to benefit disadvantaged youth, cocktails next to the pool while reading the New Yorker, dinner at Morimoto and live music at our favorite spots in Chinatown. Long story short, the night ended in casualty. Our leftovers sack from Morimoto’s was busted from the condensation from a bottle of water that I dropped beneath my feet. I was rescued by a bouncer, who patched up my leg and we UBER’d it back to the hotel. DAY 3: Bar hopping while hobbling all over Waikiki and karaoke at Wang Chung’s. We had so much fun, that we extended our staycation and partied until the next day. DAY 4: breakfast at our favorite place and then home! Did I mention the Apple Watch? Fun times!
I told my husband that I wanted a party for my, um, milestone birthday and that he had to organize it. I told him 6 months in advance. As my birthday approached, no evidence of any party. Our guy friends came to his defense and suggested that it might be a surprise. I told them that he wouldn’t come through and that I would most likely end up just leveraging it for a new kitchen. I have a new kitchen.
My favorite birthday memory is when our best friends threw me and my wife—who are 5 days apart—a big birthday Halloween bash (oh, and our birthdays are right around Halloween so it wasn’t weird). Everyone dressed up, the place was decorated to the T, and we all had a great time. Best. Friends. Ever.
I remember when I was a kid and had a birthday party at McDonald’s. As a kid it was awesome! Now… It’s still pretty awesome haha.
One of my favorite birthdays was spent at chuck e. cheese’s many moons ago. Nothing says growing older like the smell of warm cheese and dirty socks! I’m also following you on IG.
For my twentieth birthday, some of my friends in the Navy sprung for my birthday dinner in Japan. We used to go to a place that we called “Yoko’s”, because that was the owner/chef’s name. The actual name was “Snack Rich “, and Yoko’s sign outside read “Americams (sp ) Welcome”. Homemade gyoza, yakisoba, ramen were all perfect birthday dishes, paired with giant Asahi beers. If I ever make it back to Japan, I will visit the same spot in Yokosuka to see if it’s been passed on, sold, or closed down (I hope not the latter)
Happy, happy, birthday! Hope you had a lovely one and that rainbow sandwich is gorgeous :)