The Vegetarian


8 slices grainy seedy bread
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 Haas avocadoes, smashed with a fork
2 carrots sliced thin on a mandolin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup pickled radish (recipe follows)
1 cup sunflower sprouts
16 slices White Amish cheddar (1/4 inch thick)

Toast the bread.  Mix together the mayonnaise and Dijon.  Smear a generous amount of mayonnaise on one side of each piece of bread.  Top one side of the bread ¼ of the smashed avocado.  Place ¼ of the carrots on the avocado, pressing to stick the vegetables to the avocado.  Top the carrots with ¼ of the pickled radishes, then add ¼ of the sprouts and top with 4 slices of the cheese.  Top with the remaining slice of bread.

Pickled Radishes
3 cups trimmed radishes (sliced ¼-inch thick on a mandolin)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorn
½ cup sugar
½ cup Kosher salt
1 bay leaf

Place the radishes in a shallow pan.  Combine the vinegar, mustard seed, fennel seeds, peppercorns, sugar, kosher salt and bay leaf, in a sauce pot, and bring to a boil.  Allow to boil for 3 minutes, remove from the heat and strain the pickling liquid through a fine mesh strainer over the radishes.  Using a spoon make sure all the radishes are covered by the pickling liquid.  Allow to sit for five minutes then strain the radishes.  Discard the pickling liquid.