Second only to the cold cut heavy Italian sub, Peppers and Eggs is about as Italian-American as you can get, sandwich-wise. This recipe, adapted from Defonte's in Brooklyn for The Big New York Sandwich Book, is a spot-on home adaptation of the deli classic. Sautéed and simmered onions and bell peppers are scrambled with eggs, finished with a hefty handful of mozzarella, and piled into a crusty long roll. Don't try messing with any sort of highfalutin fresh mozz here; it's not the place for it. This is one case where only the salty, rubbery supermarket will do. And as far as seasoning goes, salt and pepper is just about all you need since the eggs take in all of flavors of the onions and peppers. Throw on a few hot peppers if you're feelin' like a tough guy, but this sandwich is really all about its barebones heartiness.

We've been enamored with Tyler Kord's mad scientist sandwiches at No.7 in the Ace Hotel from the get-go. Daring and totally innovative with plenty of Eastern influence, his subs are just crazy enough to work. Taking a cue from that stalwart of American-Chinese food, his General Tso's Fried Tofu Sub is a best-seller, and coming from a tofu-based sandwich that's really saying something.
Knowing how to treat your tofu is the first step on any great tofu dish, and Kord has the technique down. Seasoned tofu is dipped in a egg-cornstarch slurry, coated in panko, and deep-fried to a crisp, resulting in a perfectly crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside tofu that really tastes like something.
Roasted onions, lime juice, and thinly sliced carrots are tucked into soft sub rolls along with the crisp tofu. But what really makes this a transcendent tofu sandwich experience is the Unicorn Sauce. (What, what? Unicorns, where?) According to Kord, one of his cooks came up with this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sauce that's "good enough to make unicorns dance." It's made from a laundry list of unlikely suspects: tarragon, Sriracha, and liquid smoke. It's a crazy sandwich, but in that really great crazy way that won our hearts in the first place.

Lobster Club Sandwich

Shrimp Salad Sandwich.

I hesitated to write up this recipe up for two reasons: one, egg salad is as common as the white bread it's served on, and I figure everybody has their own version and isn't interested in somebody else's take. And two, there's no secret ingredient here that I'm about to reveal. This is just your straightforward egg salad (aka "egg mayonnaise" in the UK) with celery, green onion, mayo, salt, and pepper. So it's hardly a recipe.
Still, an egg salad can go from simple to sublime with attention to detail. I always make sure to chop all the celery finely and evenly, avoid overcooking the eggs so the yolks don't go green (they should be soft and custardy), use toasted white bread that's good and squishy, and make a quick batch of homemade mayonnaise. Together with good-quality ingredients, it all makes for a wonderful result.
In the opinion of my fiancée, who was served egg salad by her Estonian vanaema (grandmother) on a regular basis, the only way to eat egg salad is to cut the bread into quarters. She says it tastes better that way. And I have to say, I agree.

It all started with a container of stunning multi-colored grape tomatoes. I ate a handful raw and considered eating the rest the same way, calling it dinner (maybe some garlic-rubbed toasted bread would make an appearance). But my guide was this recipe from Sprouted Kitchen, which instructed me to spread the rest of the tomatoes out on a sheet pan to roast, shrink, and concentrate until as sweet as candy. Which, I had to admit, also sounded pretty tasty.
Roasting tomatoes to concentrate their flavor is something I often do to improve tomatoes that aren't the best quality. But doing so with perfect tomatoes has an even more dramatic effect. Tucked into a sea of lentils coated in Dijon, goat cheese, olive oil, and herbs, they taste like everything you wish a sun-dried tomato would be with none of the bitterness. Sweet, salty, and tangy all at the same time.
While you could easily spread this salad out over some greens or a bed of baby spinach, serving it in a pita was sort of fun, and the perfect meal to eat outside.

Egg salad is usually a monochromatic affair thanks to the healthy helping (or, as some people may point out, unhealthy helping) of mayo. Now, I happen to have a soft spot for this style, especially when it's on white bread and paired with something bitter and crunchy like watercress. But I began to wonder whether there was life beyond the basic recipe.
Taking a cue from one of my favorite chicken salads, I found this recipe in Gourmet that pairs hard-boiled eggs with lime juice, curry powder, and chopped apple. The result: a tangy, crunchy salad that's about as far removed from normal egg salad as possible.
It's an incredibly simple recipe. The only difficult part is choosing how to hard-boil the egg. Gourmet doesn't give a recipe but luckily we have Kenji Lopez-Alt for that. They come out perfectly creamy, not chalky and dry.

So, you've got your slice of wholemeal bread all ready spread with vegetarian margarine - but what else goes with them? Cordon Vert cuisine is OK in its place, but what do you do when you are running 5 minutes late for the bus and haven't got your lunchbox filled yet? Use your imagination of course! Here are some suggestions to get you started.