I am not much of a sandwich eater, are you? Sandwiches have a lot going for them in terms of easy preparation and portability, but I don’t generally get excited about them. I’d rather have a giant salad or open-faced toast.
This sandwich, however, is something else. It’s all of my favorite things sandwiched between two slices of whole wheat bread: buttery avocado, roasted red pepper, as much of my favorite Greek salad ingredients as I could fit, a splash of balsamic vinegar and rich basil pesto. It wouldn’t be the same in any other form; sandwich is the way to go. I took back every insult I’ve thrown at sandwiches on first bite. And the best part? It kept me full from lunch until dinner. Not many vegetarian sandwiches can boast that.
The sandwich came to be while I was playing [read: procrastinating] at Panera’s Sandwich Showdown Contest. You can pick a bread and drag over ingredients. Avocado? Ta da! There it is. Bacon? Ta da! Change your mind on the bacon? Poof, it’s gone. If only bacon could be removed from the waistline so easily.
It’s a fun little game, a procrastination activity that I support, but I warn you that playing will make you hungry.
Another bonus of playing [procrastinating] at the Panera showdown is that they are giving away stellar prizes. The grand prize is $10,000 in cash, among other goodies, and the remaining top 20 entries are up for thousands of dollars in cash (plus gift cards! free bagels for a year!). I feel like a used car salesman here, but cash (!) and bagels (!) call for exclamation points, am I right?
Panera is also encouraging players to share their creations on twitter and pinterest with the hash tag #SandwichShowdown. The contest is open until this Saturday, October 6th, so hurry on over and play.
Before you go, though, please tell me about your favorite sandwich to make at home. I just might be on a sandwich-making kick. I took a couple of shortcuts with this sandwich by using store-bought pesto and roasted red peppers. Ta da! Lunch in under ten minutes.
- 2 slices soft whole wheat bread
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 tablespoon basil pesto*
- roasted red bell pepper (jarred is fine)
- cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
- thinly sliced red onion
- 6 pitted kalamata olives, thinly sliced
- handful spring mix
- balsamic reduction or regular balsamic vinegar
- Pit and peel the avocado half and mash it with a fork. Use a butter knife to spread avocado on one slice of bread. Spread a layer of pesto on the other slice of bread.
- Top the avocado bread with a single layer of roasted red bell pepper. Then add a layer of cucumber slices, red onion, olives and spring mix. Use a spoon to sprinkle some balsamic reduction over the lettuce. Place the pesto slice on top, pesto side down.
- Yields one sandwich.
- *Use vegan (cheese-free) pesto to make this sandwich vegan. Here’s my recipe for vegan basil pesto, plus tips on how to make it in bulk and freeze it for later.
- Feel free to lightly toast the bread beforehand; I tried it both toasted and not toasted and couldn’t decide which I preferred.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Panera Bread. As always, opinions expressed are my own. Truths: Panera is one of my favorite places to lunch with my mom, their sandwich game is fun and this sandwich is exceptionally tasty.
P.s. Find more of my super simple meal ideas here.
41 Comments
I love this! What’s even better, I have all of the ingredients too. Lunch is going to be good.
I’ve been obsessed lately with avocados…..putting them on everything I can. I definitely will try this!
The more avocado, the better, if you ask me!
my mother,s favorite sandwich is…
2 slices of white bread
mayonnaise on one side, peanutbutter on the other, and layer onion, tomato, and cucumber. She says this is the best. She calls it
DON’T KNOCK IT TILL YOU TRY IT
I don’t eat many sandwiches, but I love them! They’re so easy to make so it’s a bit strange that I don’t make them more. Thanks for reminding me!
I’ve always loved a delicious healthy sandwich. Panera bread definitely has yummy ones! :)
This is absolutely my kind of sandwich. Well, any sandwich with avocado is my kind of sandwich. I love the Greek flavors here!
I’m not much of a sandwich eater myself, but this one looks perfect, Kate! I want it for lunch!
Beautiful. I hope you entered the contest because that seems like a winner.
There are many Middle Eastern/Mediterranean grocery stores where I live and I’m addicted to a couple of ingredients: ajvar (red pepper spread) and labneh (kind of a yogurt cream cheese). I like to use those in a sandwich with cucumber and whole mint leaves (oddly refreshing).
Try a little summac or zataar in the labneh.. oh YUM!
I loooove sandwiches! Sammies. Jammies.
all of it.
Great combination of ingredients!!! I don’t believe you aren’t a sandwich person.
i wouldn’t say that i am a sandwich fanatic, but from time to time it feels really good to take a big bite out of a yummy sandwich! i always put way too much stuff in my sandwiches (can’t help it). i think my favorite right now might be warm grilled chicken, herb cream cheese, bacon, smoked paprika mayo, and pickle on toasted sesame bread! ooooh yeah, baby.
Oh, wow, that looks like heaven – pesto, avocado, roasted bell pepper.. all of my favourites! What a great lunch you had..
I wonder if there is a sandwich lover’s fan club. If there is, I nominate myself as president. I. LOVE. Sandwiches. Probably too much. And I love Greek salad so I’d undoubtedly love this!
A favorite of mine is this one that I make that is pretty healthy and so satisfying:
First I make an artichoke heart spread using: [obviously] ‘choke hearts, roasted garlic, a bit of fresh grated parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I spread that GENEROUSLY onto a slice of bread [Ezekial, or home-made foccacia or challah] and pile on a leafy green veg, such as kale or collards that sometimes I’ll sauté in EVOO first. Then I shave some chunks of parmesan onto that and top with the other slice of bread. Drizzle with EVOO and put that into a panini press until everything is hot and oozing. Finally, I drizzle some raw honey on top. Sure its sticky and messy, but it is sooo worth it!
Now that is a sandwich. Roasted garlic and artichoke hearts? Gotta try it
Can’t go wrong there! Let me know if you try it!
Salad in a sandwich! Hooray! Avocado with tangy pesto, olives, and onion sounds so good right now.
Oh my gosh, this is gorgeous! My kind of sandwich.
one of my favorite sandwiches to make isis super simple. It’s with roasted red pepper hummus (or kind of hummus that you love) with mashed avocados seasoned with a little pepper and a dash of lime, and alfalfa sprouts on a nice baguette! It’s so frigging yummy!
That sounds killer! I’ll have to give your sandwich a try asap.
This is so weird. I got this sandwich for lunch and just spent an evening looking for that recipe! And was just about to give up when I decided to check my Bloglovin! And guess what?! My sandwich was staring at me!! Haha
That is weird. Where did you get this sandwich for lunch? That chef and I must be on the same wavelength.
I got it at Panera. The Mediterranean Veggie. Your recipe is perfect for that. I might just buy their tomato basil bread. Slurp. I want it again! :(
I take sandwiches into work every day – open toasts just aren’t practical when you’re eating at a desk. My favourite is homemade wholegrain bread with pumpkin and poppy seeds, avocado mashed with chilli, roasted red peppers, rocket and feta cheese. So very similar to this one which looks delicious!
Ok, your sandwich sounds amazing. Do you use roasted pumpkin or what? I have to know!
Oh no, sorry to confuse you. I use pumpkin seeds, not pumpkin. Slightly roasted they add a lovely crunch & flavour!
Aha! Pumpkin seeds sound like a great sandwich ingredient. Trying your sandwich next.
Wow, this looks good. I’ll absolutely try this.
My boyfriend insists that girls can’t make proper sandwiches so I will have to show him this to prove him wrong! It looks really, really delicious.
Please do! It’s really delicious.
I love sandwiches! This looks like a great one to try out, although PB and J will be my favorite forever. Thanks for posting this for us!
I really do love a great sandwich and this sure does look like one!
This was an awesome lunch for work today. Thanks Kate :)
You are welcome, Carolyn. :)
Yumm! Can’t wait to try this simple sandwich as soon as the avocados on my kitchen counter ripen :) Love the Greek flavors. Thanks for sharing Kate! xx
I’m a huge sandwich lover and I think you’ve hit it out of the ballpark with this one! Yum!
Kathryne,
I love everything about your sandwich! I can never get enough Greek Salad and avocado is kind of a must on any sandwich in my book. I actually an a huge sandwich fan, they are such an easy delivery device and quick fix. These days I’m eating mashed avocado with lemon, salt, and tons of freshly chopped cilantro from the garden, open-faced.
Have a good week,
E
That sandwich is fabulous! It’s easy, tasty and makes my breakfast classy! Thank you for that recipe! :)
Love this! Such a fabulous combination of flavors. I could eat it any day!
YUM! Having devoured my lunch (unwillingly) for 14 years of my life, constantly eating PB&J sandwhiches on whole wheat bread… this is something the gods eat! Thanks for the nostalgia! :) ~ nerdwithtaste.wordpress.com