Tom’s peanut butter and sprout sandwich

This sandwich is a grown-up version of the peanut butter and crunchy sprouts sandwiches my mum used to make me for kindy. It was usually in plasticky white or brown bread (because the 90s) and I still remember how I would squish it with my fingers to reveal the bumpy shape of the sprouts inside.

Fast forward about 25 years to Tom’s and we’re adding homemade pickled celery and vegan mayo, alfalfa sprouts, Kaitaia Fire hot sauce and a much higher-quality loaf of bread.

The following recipe will leave you with heaps of extra vegan mayo and pickled celery. Perhaps you could give a jar of mayo to a friend? Pickle the celery the day before for the best taste.

INGREDIENTS

Pickled celery

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup white wine vinegar

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon salt

• Half a bunch celery

• Pinch of dried dill

• ½ teaspoon peppercorns

• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 bay leaf

Vegan mayo

• 60g chickpeas

• 250g liquid from chickpea can

• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard

• 800-900ml canola oil

• Salt & pepper

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

The rest

• Crunchy peanut butter

(I love Bay Rd)

• Your favourite slices of bread (I use the Sydenham sourdough from Grizzly Baked Goods) • Crunchy sprouts

(pea, adzuki and lentil mix) • Alfalfa sprouts

• Kaitaia Fire hot sauce or similar

METHOD

Make the pickled celery

Add the water, white wine vinegar, sugar and salt to a pot over a medium heat and stir. While it heats, chop the celery into ½-1cm pieces, and add to a container or jar with the dried dill, peppercorns, mustard seeds, garlic clove and bay leaf. When the pickling liquid starts bubbling and the sugar and salt has dissolved, take it off the heat and pour carefully over the celery mix. Leave it to cool then put the lid on and store in the fridge.

Make the vegan mayo

Add the chickpeas, chickpea liquid and dijon mustard to a large bowl (deep but not too wide is best) or tall, sturdy container. Blitz with an immersion blender for 30 seconds and continue blitzing as you start to pour the oil in a slow, steady stream. Once half the oil has been used, stop blending and add a generous pinch of salt, pepper and the apple cider vinegar. Blitz this and then continue adding the rest of the oil until you have a thick mayo-like consistency. Add more vinegar or salt and pepper if needed.

To assemble, spread the peanut butter generously on the bottom piece of bread followed by a good sprinkle of crunchy sprouts and then a nice thick bed of alfalfa. Cover the alfalfa with pickled celery and on the top piece of bread spread on the vegan mayo followed by a good dash of hot sauce. Sandwich together and enjoy!