Yesterday, the idea of a “salad sandwich” popped into our head. We were evaluating potential ingredients for lunch: Stonefire naan, an Indian flatbread we love; hummus; cooked chicken breast; and an assortment of salad ingredients including arugula, bell peppers, onions and romaine.

Our first thought was to make a basic salad topped with sliced chicken breast and a piece of naan on the side. Then we thought of cutting the large slice of naan in half and making a chicken sandwich with hummus, instead of mayonnaise or other spread.

Then, our minds ran to our favorite shrimp tostada salad, which we order every time we get to Zócalo Mexican restaurant in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal.

It piles salad greens and grilled shrimp, with a light olive oil-lime juice dressing (see recipe below), atop a tostada. The lettuce and tortilla create a crunchfest; there’s an excellent balance of protein from the shrimp, and just enough dressing to moisten the greens without wetting the tostada.

Have your salad atop a delicious specialty
bread. Photo courtesy Stonefire Naan, a
NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

So we spread some hummus across the entire piece of naan, whipped up some lime juice dressing, tossed it with the greens and diced chicken, and scooped it, drained, onto the naan. We sat down with a fork, knife and a bottle of Sam Adams Whitewater IPA and had a delicious open-face salad sandwich lunch.

It was so enjoyable, in fact, that we’re making it again today. This time we’ll toast the naan and use some curry mayonnaise, to convert yesterday’s fusion food into an all-Indian theme (just add curry powder to regular mayo).

We found naan at Whole Foods Markets and
Trader Joe’s. Photo courtesy Stonefire Naan.

By the way, we checked the Web before writing this, and didn’t find much on “salad sandwiches” (just links to egg salad sandwich, tuna salad sandwich and the like). The only related item was this New York Times recipe for Greek salad on an English muffin. But it’s just a basic recipe, not advocacy for a new way of eating salad.

So maybe the “salad sandwich” trend starts here! Let us know your favorite salad sandwich concepts—what kind of salad atop what kind of bread—and be part of the new movement! Challah? Cornbread? Crispbread? Fruit bread? Garlic bread? The world’s many flatbreads? We can’t wait to try other combinations.

LIME JUICE SALAD DRESSING

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MIX ingredients thoroughly. We prefer to emulsify them in a blender or with a small inversion blender. We’ve even used a milk frother wand.

2. DECIDE if you want to dress the salad before topping the bread. If you do, you can drain the excess dressing so the bread doesn’t get soaked. If you want to eat the dressing-soaked bread (we liked it!), drizzle it over the salad instead.
 
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BREAD IN OUR BEAUTIFUL BREAD GLOSSARY.