An Extremely Green Sandwich

Recreating a special lunch from a recent stay in Sydney

Many of you know that I’m fortunate to spend a good amount of time in Australia. It’s a fact of my life now that I’d never have predicted when I was younger — but it’s what happens when you marry an Australian!

We recently had a rare opportunity to spend four weeks there, and recently returned home. I posted a few snapshots of the trip (and other happenings so far this summer) to Instagram, and there was one picture of a sandwich that elicited interest:

Doesn’t that look good?? It’s the “Al Green” from Small’s Deli, and it was one of several great sandwiches I tried in Sydney on this trip. Other stops included Fabbrica and MLK Deli, both of which had delicious focaccia sandwiches. If I were more of a trend forecaster I’d wonder if Sydney is experiencing a sandwich moment, but it could also be Sydney is simply a sandwich city and this is the first time I noticed.

One other noteworthy food we tried, which is not a sandwich:

What we got when we asked for “fried eggs” at Lucky Kwong

Those are fried eggs! Well, deep-fried eggs, at Lucky Kwong. Making them involved an elaborate technique I couldn’t entirely follow as our server described it — cracking the eggs into a wok full of hot oil, a precise moment of breaking open the yolks, swirling everything just so; it seems like it requires full-body engagement — but suffice it to say these eggs were very, very good, with more contrasting textures than I’ve ever experienced in an egg before.

It happened to be that we caught one of the final lunch services here, at Kylie Kwong’s restaurant. The next day after we went, she announced her retirement from the restaurant business.

But back to the sandwich. At the request of a few of you (including one of my favorite Instagrammers Caitlin Cavagnolo as well as food writer and chef Kate Ray) I decided to try to recreate this gloriously green, alfalfa-centric sandwich at home in my kitchen.

While the Small’s Deli description lists pureed kale, pepita pesto, and green goddess as separate condiments, I opted to combine them into one dense and rich pesto-like spread. Otherwise I copied the fillings (avocado, alfalfa sprouts, “cos” lettuce [what we call romaine in the US], and thin slices of granny smith apple). And then that as a nod to the hippie sandwiches I’ve always loved, which this reminds me of, I threw in a bit of honey-mustard dressing, too.

If a sandwich ever requires a recipe, it’s going to look fussy — and sometimes I really enjoy the project of a fussy sandwich, assembled with care. But here, as is usually the case, it’s just a system of prep and assembly. Make the pesto, make the dressing, and then layer everything all together. Easy.

Recipe Video: Extreme Green Sandwich