To make a sandwich, all that is needed are bread and meat. But how do you make the perfect sandwich? There are 1000s of different sandwiches to choose from. The most simple— a turkey sandwich. To be honest, though, just cold-cut turkey and bread is bland and boring. How do you make it more fun? How do you evolve your sandwich? The answer is to add toppings. Toppings can make your sandwich become… the perfect turkey sandwich.
Step 1: Get the great stuff. Don’t go to the store and find stale bread and soggy turkey. If you are in the market for an excellent sandwich, then go to the market and buy excellent stuff to make an excellent sandwich. You must take special care that you like the bread. Not only is the bread what holds that sandwich together, but it is also the first thing you will taste. The bread must be something that you are excited about. If it isn’t, that singular choice could ruin your entire sandwich experience. If the meat is making you gag as you take it out of its container, then that meat is not for you. Spend one more dollar on meat that you will genuinely enjoy, and leave the cheap soggy stuff at the store.
Step 2: Add cheese. To make a sandwich have a little more taste, you can simply add cheese to elevate the flavor. There are “more than 1800 different types of cheese in the world” (Proudly Wisconsin Cheese). That gives you 1800 options to make your sandwich go from ugly to irresistible. You can either add a slab of cheese and call it good or melt down the cheese to make a toasty sandwich.
Step 3: Consume your daily greens. “Remember to eat your veggies,” says every mother ever. Why eat veggies when you could eat a sandwich? But wait… why can’t you do both? Put all your veggie intake for the day between two pieces of bread (because everything is better with bread). The easiest way to elevate your sandwich would be to add a piece of lettuce for a little crunch. If you were looking for an extreme sandwich— then the sky is the limit. Add avocado, tomatoes, onions, and peppers, or any sprout you can think of.
Step 4: Sauce it up. The addition of a condiment can take your sandwich from dry and crusty to soft and seasoned. Adding mayo, mustard, oil, spicy mayo, or chipotle sauce quickly classes up a sandwich. Statistics report that “280 million Americans have a jar of mayonnaise in the fridge,” meaning that more than 75% of Americans have mayo readily available (Gerner). They are keeping a specific spot in their cluttered fridge for a mayonnaise jar to elevate their lunches. That’s powerful. The addition of sauce truly can help your sandwich grow from a dandelion to a daisy.
Step 5: Experiment a little. Add toppings never seen before on a sandwich. You could add chips for extra crunch. My favorite chips to add to my sandwiches are Sun Chips or Doritos. The addition of the crunch and the cheese makes your sandwich reach a completely new level. Chips can completely change the trajectory of your sandwich. Salt, man’s best friend (other than dogs and butter), also adds flavor to an otherwise bland sandwich. Add olives or pickles (PSA: I realize many would call pickles and olives a vegetable and I agree, but I don’t care) for a pleasant mid-bite surprise as well.
The perfect sandwich is representative of everyone singularly. The ability to choose what you want on your sandwich is freeing. Sandwiches let you be creative, and filled with the energy to tackle your day. So, just remember to add whatever you want to make your sandwich better. That is how you make the perfect turkey sandwich.
