If you comply with comedian and writer Alison Leiby or pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz on Instagram, you have witnessed it: A sandwich fats as a softball, an explosion of eco-friendly leaves and sprouts, with a stripe of beige (usually turkey and cheese), a handful of slices of avocado, and possibly some cucumber or a thing else with plenty of crunch. It really is a salad in sandwich type, and it’s a signature of their lengthy-long lasting friendship.
It was late summertime 2002 at Cornell College when the two first satisfied on their way to a crew celebration. “Rowing introduced us collectively, but immediately after that a person conversation, I just realized, Okay, this human being is heading to be one of my best mates,” Leiby claims.
A yr afterwards, when they were being equally unceremoniously lower from Cornell’s rowing team, they before long understood they had a good deal much more in frequent than a desire to speed via h2o at a constant clip. They shared a significant (English), an itch to look at “mundane” details of their lives (“We generally know what the other human being is having for each food of each working day,” Pickowicz states), and a sandwich design and style.
They begun meeting up for lunch at a campus cafe identified as Cascadeli, in which the sandwiches were massive, thick, complete of crunchy veggies and wrapped in white butcher paper ahead of being sliced in fifty percent. “It was the sort of sandwich where you could have 50 percent for lunch, and it would remain pleasant and crisp so you could have the other fifty percent for dinner,” Pickowicz states.
The two share a dislike for soggy sandwiches, sandwich spreads – “we are not mayonnaise or mustard people,” Leiby states – bread that is too strongly flavored or textured, and sandwiches with much too significantly meat and cheese.
These sandwich choices helped strengthen their relationship about the years. From freshman year on, they’d make their suitable sandwich – a bit of thinly sliced turkey, a minimal cheese, ripe avocado and a mountain of greens – in dorm and team property kitchens. Right after higher education, they both equally inevitably ended up in New York Town, and kept the sandwich tradition alive in small apartment kitchens, generally sharing pictures and notes on the place to get the “great turkey” and the “suitable bread.”
Currently, the two frequently satisfy for picnics on the beach or in the park, in a yard or on a rooftop to share meals, and often it really is this sandwich, the friendship sandwich, that’s the star of the menu. When they’re aside, they share images of their sandwiches with every single other. Pickowicz even has a picture album on her cell phone called “friendship sandwich.”
“I constantly know if Natasha is making something, but in particular a sandwich, I’m heading to like it,” Leiby states, “It is really just our fashion.”
Right now, pretty much 20 years to the day because they to start with fulfilled, the sandwich retains them near. The two both equally commonly vacation for work and daily life, with Leiby’s hit stand-up exhibit “Oh God, a Clearly show About Abortion” using her to Los Angeles, and Pickowicz acquiring organized bake profits in help of Prepared Parenthood and abortion money on equally coasts. When they’re on the road, the sandwich will make appearances on Instagram, with each and every of them tagging the other in photographs and Instagram stories of it, letting the globe get a tiny taste of their friendship, much too.
Like a connection that you have to have to tend to, this is a sandwich that demands treatment. It only contains a few elements, so the texture and flavor of every single matters. Appear for roasted turkey that hasn’t been soaked in a salt alternative. (Check out your area Jewish deli.) Seek out out soft rye or semolina bread, so you do not have to battle to get the very first chunk. Layer on the freshest arugula or other lettuce, for greatest crunch. Will not skimp on the avocado, so the sandwich has just a touch of creaminess. Time it as you establish the sandwich to guarantee every single chunk has excellent taste. Eventually, make a next sandwich, so there is certainly one particular for you and just one for a expensive mate.
Arugula and Avocado Sandwich With Turkey (Friendship Sandwich)
15 minutes
2 servings
This sandwich’s signature is its ratio of greens and veggies to meat and cheese. It is really 4-to-1, greens to protein, and will make you really feel like you are having a salad. It can be impressed by a sandwich created by longtime close friends pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz and writer-comedian Alison Leiby. Crunchy and filling, it’s also an incredibly refreshing choose on a picnic lunch, just one that incorporates layers of taste but would not experience significant. The creaminess of the cheese and avocado act as a unfold for the bread, negating the need for mayonnaise or mustard.
If you are not able to have gluten, use a gluten-no cost bread or wrap.
No avocado? Skip it, or look at replacing it with a contact additional cheese.
Not a meat eater? Omit the turkey. Incorporate a smear of hummus for a minor protein.
This sandwich won’t have a unfold because of the creaminess of the avocado and cheese. That claimed, come to feel no cost to increase a single if you would like.
4 thin slices Jewish rye bread, semolina bread or 2 slender and crusty sandwich rolls, break up
1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
2 ounces thinly sliced roasted turkey breast
High-quality salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to style
2 ounces (about 2 substantial handfuls) arugula, spinach, butter lettuce, Little Gem or a mixture
1 ounce alfalfa sprouts
1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced on a bias
2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
Pickles, for serving (optional)
Chips, if possible potato, for serving (optional)
On a slicing board, lay the bread out. Prime a single slice, or a single fifty percent of the roll, with a handful of slices of avocado. Leading the avocado with half of the turkey and frivolously year with salt and pepper. Layer on 50 percent of the greens, sprouts, cucumber, and evenly season with additional salt and pepper. Leading with slices of cheddar. Position one more slice of bread atop the cheddar, and push down carefully to help protected the bread to the fillings. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make the next sandwich.
Slice every sandwich in 50 % and provide, with pickles and chips on the side, if wanted.
Nourishment details for each serving (1 sandwich) Calories: 464 Total Fats: 24 g Saturated Excess fat: 7 g Cholesterol: 38 mg Sodium: 772 mg Carbs: 44 g Nutritional Fiber: 8 g Sugar: 5 g Protein: 22 g.
This evaluation is an estimate dependent on offered ingredients and this preparing. It need to not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s suggestions.
Adapted from pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz and writer-comedian Alison Leiby
Arugula and Avocado Sandwich With Turkey (Friendship Sandwich). Ought to Credit rating: Image by Rey Lopez for The Washington Submit.