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 :)
The night before my 23rd birthday, some friends and I met up at a club on South Beach to watch my brother-in-law’s band, Elastic Bond, play a show…which was followed up by a surprise DJ session by Doug E. Fresh! We capped off the night with a wild drum circle on the beach, and rang in my birthday with a dawn breakfast at IHOP…one of the weirder, most awesome experiences of my life.
My birthday is always, without fail, in the middle of finals week, and for three years, the 3 installments of The Hobbit came out around the same time. My friends and I went to see the midnight premiere every year, and then had to walk back through Boston winter weather at 4 in the morning with half of us wearing costumes. It was hilarious, but very cold!
I’d say my favorite birthday memory would be when I got the vhs of the Little Mermaid. We happened to be on vacation in my parents hometown that year, so we celebrated it there. My grandpa’s best friend (and later 2nd wife) hosted it at her place and it was just full of antiques and interesting things for us to explore. The celebration ended with a delicious ice cream cake and watching the Little Mermaid.
My favorite birthday memory isn’t even for my birthday. My wife spent all day baking a vegan gluten free cake for our 1 year olds first birthday shaped like a unicorn. In the end he didn’t eat a bite!
I love Shun knives! (Favorite birthday memory? Turning 26 in Maui. That island is magical.)
My favorite birthday memory is getting free pizza at my local pizza shop on my birthday. I follow you on Instagram too.
My favorite birthday memory is when my boyfriend (now hubby) took me to Mackninaw Island, MI for my birthday. It is an island only accessible by boat and no motor vehicles are allowed on the island. We had a great time sightseeing and we rented bicycles and rode around the island. When we returned to the hotel for the night he surprised me with some custom-made chocolates and proposed! Best birthday ever!
Such a fan of all your food photography and have been following you through Momofufku cooking blog. My fond birthday memory was the last one with my dad, the thought of having him in my life for my 10th birthday makes it a cherished memorry. That was the last birthday I spent with him, he threw me a big party prior to going on a trip. That is the best birthday memory I have had to date and I will go back in time to relive that again and enjoy it even more if I knew that would be my last to celebrate with him.
My favorite birthday was my 19th birthday, when my friends threw me a birthday party. It was my first birthday party ever! My friends brought a lot of food over, macarons, cookies, pies, and cake. We watched Pushing Daisies (which is a great show that shouldn’t have been canceled) and basically just had a lot of food :) I followed you on both Facebook and Pintrest as well!
When I was about 8 years old, my father wrote me a poem for my birthday and put it in my lunch sack. I didn’t realize this until lunch time, when I opened the sack and found the poem. It was very sweet. I don’t remember the poem (it got soggy in my sandwich and I did not save it all these 55+ years, but I remember tearing up and thinking, “Daddy really loves me.”