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 :)
Oh… and as for a birthday memory, I think most of mine revolved around food. My mom always let us pick out our meals. I usually asked for linguine and clam sauce or fettuccine alfredo. You know, something light and healthy. And then my mom would make a cake from scratch and decorate it however I wanted. She made Sesame Street cakes, Ninja Turtle cakes, Ghostbusters cakes. She went all out. Meanwhile, every year my sister got the same thing: a pudding cake. I don’t know why…. she never asked for it. That’s just what she got. She’s still bitter about it. :-)
That sandwich looks amazing! Like you I have always been a huge fan of celebrating my birthday! My favorite birthday memory is from my birthday 12 years ago. My husband (then boyfriend) took me out to my favorite french restaurant in our town. We had a small table for two in front of the window looking out onto the street. I had pate, escargot, beef wellington (I thought this was a British dish though :) ) and creme brulee for dinner. Beef wellington is still my favorite dish to have for my birthday! Afterwards we went for a walk around the town square and then my husband got down on one knee and proposed! It will always be the happiest birthday of my life!
when i was turning 11, my parents threw me a surprise sleepover birthday party with a small group of my best friends. i had always wanted a surprise party and i was truly, incredibly surprised – and then i got to spend all night with my best friends, which is exactly what i wanted. well done, parents, well done.
I love this! What a complete veggie sandwich! I had a great birthday this year; my husband surprised me with a super fun scavenger hunt (yes, kind of kid-like) complete with clues. Happy Birthday!
My favorite birthday was when I turned 7 and we flew out to California to see my godmother. She was sooo crazy and it was so much fun! Disneyland, Big Bear lake, getting caught in a sand storm, even a trip to Tijuana! I’ll never forget she also dyed my mom’s hair from a mousy brown to an amazing blonde!
Followed you on Facebook, Instagram (that’s how I found you!), and Pinterest.
My favorite birthday memory wasn’t even mine! It was my brother’s. So, on his 8th birthday he was very very veryyy into trains as all Thomas the Tank Engine fans are. So my mother and I embarked on a journey to bake him a cake in the shape of a train and caboose. Simply putting a train on top in frosting didn’t count, we had to make the train 3D and amazing. It was tough. We probably had 3 failed cakes in varying states of completion (collapsed, collapsed, and imploded due to lack of structural integrity, happily eaten by neighbors/friends). So on our 4th and decidedly final try, it was there. THE cake. It was beautiful. Held together by 2 skewers and more frosting than should be given to kids. It was a thing of beauty. Sadly we didn’t notice until later that there was a bit too much dye, which resulting in 15 little kids running around with stained teeth/mouths/faces/hands (kids are weird).
All in all my favorite memory.
All great birthdays are the same to me, so I’d like to talk about my least favorite birthday haha. This was my 21st birthday, and somehow found myself alone in a farm on Mexico. I’m not sure why I decided to come farming on my own!(?) Anyway, bright and early on my birthday, I was shoveling manure and turning over the soil like a boss. Before you know it, it’s super dark and lights are out on the farm at 8pm. I’m singing happy birthday to myself under candlelight without a cake in the company of massive spiders the size of my palm. And that’s how my super 21st bday passed!
My brother and I share our birth date, even though we’re three years apart. I loved sharing our birthdays because we got a special day together, and separate parties the weekends before and after. One party we did share was at a combination gymnastics and rock climbing facility. I took rock climbing with my friends and my little brother did gymnastics with his!
My best birthday memory was my 33rd birthday. I spent it on vacation, by myself, in San Francisco. I took five days to see a city I’d always loved from afar, by myself, on my own terms. I ate where I wanted to eat, saw the sights I wanted to see, and started each day on my own agenda. It was a great way to treat myself, so to speak.
Happy belated to you!
Ps, I follow you on instagram, of course. :)
Happy birthday!
My favorite birthday memory is my mom making my favorite dinner! Being one of six kids we always got our favorite dinner on our birthday and a big cake!