My Fave Spring Sandos!! 🥪🥯

It’s finally warm out in a lot of places, which means we all get to be outdoors a little more, spend some time at the park or on the beach with family and friends, enjoying the sun and some fun nibbles. I got to thinking about my favorite spring sandos for when we're outdoors, so here’s my very all-over-the-place, non-comprehensive guide to spring sandwiches and other such picnic foods:  

🫘Asparagus and black bean tostadas: I like making the beans with taco masala (this Rajma Chili recipe is a good reference) and top the tostadas with blistered asparagus with just salt and pepper!

🥖Fully loaded hoagies and muffuletta mashup for the beach: Lots of salame/ham/mortadella, briny olivey chopped peppers-y giardiniera, sharp cheese slices, and lots of iceberg lettuce for crunch. I usually make a pepper-Sirārakhong-mayo mixture that I slather on and toast the bread with! I freestyle Molly Baz’s Italian Hoagie recipe!

🐣Konbini-style soft boiled egg sandwiches: I LOVE these for spring and usually look to this NYT recipe!

🥬 Kimchi Quesadillas: I love making these and making the kimchi from scratch at home (Asha’s Smoky Baechu Kimchi is my trusted recipe). The best part is you have kimchi for days which means you can use it in stews or as a fun accompaniment to any meal! 

🥯 Everything Bagel: I LOVE an everything bagel with lox, cream cheese, red onion, capers, and tomatoes. My absolute fave is the one from Russ & Daughters in NYC, but if I had to make it at home, here’s a great recipe for smoked salmon from the folks who supply it to Russ & Daughters!

🥪 Collard Green Melt: No better recipe than the one from The Turkey And The Wolf.

🌶️ Focaccia with spicy toppings: I love making focaccia (so much easier than you think!) and Asha’s No-Knead Chilli Focaccia with Seeni Sambol is just so delicious with pockets of spiced, allium sweetness!! The possibilities are truly endless with focaccia though and you can replace the seeni sambol with some Gunpowder mixed with sesame oil or Everything Grill Seasoning mixed with EVOO (coarser spice blends with some oil work really well, but you could also just use Pahadi Pink Garlic and some cheese)! The best part is, these don’t even need to be sandwiches — just a nice chunk of focaccia with salty butter does the job.

If all else fails, there’s always the Bombay Sandwich: spongy white bread, lots of butter, green chutney, thinly sliced tomatoes, beets, boiled potatoes, green bell peppers, and cucumber, a pile of grated cheese, and a good sprinkle of Chaat Masala​(absolutely non-negotiable)! Honestly, ICONIC!!

With love and in community,

Sana Javeri Kadri