California Veggie Sandwich

10 minutes. Makes 2 sandwiches.

This sandwich is a celebration of all the produce that this state is known for. Crisp cucumbers, creamy avocados and lively sprouts are balanced with cheddar and an herby mayonnaise on whole-grain bread. Use the best of each ingredient you can get your hands on. And you can personalize the sandwich to your taste. Like shallots or pickled red onions? Use them in place of the scallions. Not a fan of cucumber? Use thinly sliced carrots or radishes. The bread, though, is essential. Plain sourdough or white sandwich bread will technically work, but the heft of a multiseed or multigrain bread really helps best balance the fatty avocado, cheese and mayonnaise to the veggies.

1⁄4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon finely

chopped chives

1 small lemon Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 slices multigrain sandwich bread, lightly toasted, if you like

4 slices sharp white

cheddar

1 avocado, halved, pitted

and thinly sliced

1 Persian cucumber

1 cup alfalfa sprouts

1 scallion, thinly sliced

Potato chips, for serving

1 In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, chives and 2 teaspoons of juice from the lemon; reserve the rest of the lemon. Season the mayonnaise liberally with salt and pepper.

2 Place the bread slices on a cutting board and divide the mayonnaise among the slices. Layer 2 cheese slices each on two pieces of bread, then fan out half an avocado’s worth of slices on each of the other two pieces of bread.

3 Using a vegetable peeler, mandoline or a knife, thinly slice/shave the cucumber lengthwise into ribbons. Layer half the cucumber ribbons over each stack of avocado slices. Pile half the sprouts over the cucumber ribbons, then sprinkle the sprouts evenly with the scallions.

4 Give the reserved lemon halves a squeeze over the sprouts to give them a little juice and season with salt and pepper. Close the sandwich and eat with some salty potato chips.