Proteins are still a first-round decision: Do you want chicken, ham or roast beef, for example.

But these days, according to chefs interviewed by restaurant trade magazine Flavor & The Menu, produce makes the sandwich.

Here are five quick tips and a link to the full article. We’ll tell you what chefs are doing, then offer some easier home solutions.

1. CONDIMENTS COUNT

Sweet, sour, savory and pungent: Chefs use any number of chutneys, conserves, marmalades, pestos, pickles, salsas and sauces for a creative flavor boost.

Chefs create special condiments like broccoli marmalade, celery leaf pesto, fried caper aïoli and pumpkin agrodolce*. At home, we make an easy mayo substitute nonfat Greek yogurt, flavored with diced smashed garlic and dill (creating a form of “yogurt aïoli”).

There are trending condiments that you can buy in the store: bacon mayonnaise, fig Dijon mustard, onion marmalade (caramelized onions) and sriracha ketchup.

Any of them will add “wow” notes to a sandwich.

2. GO VIBRANT WITH VEGGIES

Forget bland lettuce and out-of-season tomatoes. Chefs are substituting specialties like tempura turnips, fried shallots and Vidalia onion purée, and are also getting creative with veggie sandwiches.

They’re using root vegetables for bold sandwich flavors. The new tuna melt may just be a roasted broccoli and cauliflower melt.

Whatever the base, it works with pickled vegetables. From pickled carrot slices to pickled beets, it’s easy to pickle vegetables at home. Don’t forget to pickle your favorite hot chiles!

Home-pickled veggies can be ready in an hour; but if you have no time, just pick up a jar of giardiniera, assorted pickled vegetables that typically include carrots, cauliflower, celery, red bell pepper and optional hot chiles.

At home, you may already add sliced avocado or guacamole to sandwiches. But how about:

 
†Onion is botanically classified as a perennial herb that grows from a bulb. So are other members of the Allium genus, including chives, garlic, leek, scallion and shallot.

Who says that a slice of fruit doesn’t belong on a sandwich, along with—or instead of—the lettuce and tomato.

Raw, roasted or pickled, fruit flavors are a perky counterpoint to meaty, salty and savory ingredients.

Start with apples, pears, plums or other stone fruit in season, and try them alternative raw (sliced thin) and pickled. Both provide a nice crunch.

If you want fruit without effort, you can default to a jar of fig conserve or red pepper jam. Peruse the shelves of specialty food stores to see what calls your name.

 
4. USE NUT OR SEED SPREADS

The explosion of hummus flavors at the grocer’s was the first hint that you can season old standards to deliver new flavors.

Certainly, use flavored hummus as a spread. But chefs are also mixing peanut butter with Middle Eastern spices, hummus with chocolate and sunflower butters with fruit preserves.

One of THE NIBBLE’s first Top Picks Of The Week, back in 2004, was a line of savory peanut butters called Peanut Better (alas, it is no longer produced).

Think onion parsley peanut butter on turkey or ham sandwiches, Southwestern-spiced PB on roast beef sandwiches, hickory smoked PB with hot or cold turkey, ham, and roast chicken. Go Thai by adding ginger, crushed red pepper and a splash of soy sauce.

Next step: Get a jar of plain peanut butter and get to work!

 
5. BEANS & LEGUMES

Chefs are spreading sandwiches with mashed curried chickpeas, white bean purée and pickled black-eyed peas.

Beans and legumes provide velvety texture and lots of extra protein. Turn your leftover beans and legumes into sandwich spreads or fillings—with cheese or grilled vegetables as well as with meats.

We added leftover lentil salad to a turkey sandwich along with some pickled onions. Delicious!
 
OUR FINAL TIP

Think outside the box, like a creative chef. Every recipe we eat didn’t exist until someone first put the ingredients together.
  

Maille, the venerable French producer of fine mustards, added a European spin to this, placing Japanese-style raw fish on a Parmesan tuile. It also combines substitutes the traditional wasabi for Maille Dijon Mustard With Honey.

If you don’t eat cheese, or want to shave time from making the recipe, instead of making tuiles you can substitute KA-ME Rice Crunch Crackers in Original, Seaweed or Sesame.

You can serve these bites anytime, from brunch to cocktails to a first course. Prep time is 25 minutes, including making the tuiles.

Serve with beer, Martinis, saké or wine.

RECIPE: SALMON SASHIMI HORS D’OEUVRE

Ingredients For 24 Pieces

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. COMBINE the mustard with soy sauce in medium bowl; gently stir in the salmon. Let stand 10 minutes.

3. MAKE the tuiles: Drop the cheese by teaspoonfuls into 24 mounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and looks lacy. Remove the baking pan to a wire rack and let cool.

4. COMBINE the basil, mint, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper; set aside. To serve:

5. ARRANGE the tuiles on serving platter, then top each with piece of salmon. Garnish with the herb salad and a piece of cherry tomato.
 
Find more delicious recipes at Maille.com.
 
  

Most croutons are miniature cubes. Some crouton lovers would like them much larger: more flavor, more crunch.

And they certainly make salads more fun.

So today’s tip is. Make jumbo croutons. They make salads more fun. And you can customize the flavors each time, so there’s no “crouton fatigue.”

 
GENERAL CROUTON TIPS

 
RECIPE: GARLIC CROUTONS

Ingredients

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Cut the bread into rounds or fingers.

2. TOSS the ingredients in a large bowl, coating bread thoroughly. Bake until toasted to your preference (light or dark), 15-20 minutes.

3. PREPARE and dress the salad. Top with warm croutons and serve. You can store croutons in an airtight container for a day or two.
  

For Sunday brunch or afternoon tea*, here’s a fun alternative to a chocolate croissant that provides another reason to enjoy seasonal berries.

RECIPE: BERRY CROISSANTS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SPLIT the croissant and spread the bottom half with cheese.

2. ADD the berries, whole or sliced, depending on size.

 
*Who has afternoon tea, you say? Well, THE NIBBLE is a far cry from Downtown Abbey, but we serve afternoon tea daily. Not everyone drinks tea, but it’s our chance to sample some of the many foods that arrive at our doorstep—baked goods, candy, jam, crackers, cheese, pâté and so forth—including coffee, tea and other beverages. If you want to serve a proper afternoon tea, here’s how.
  

Need something fancy—and easy? Here’s a lovely first course to make with spring asparagus. We serve the wraps individually plated with some watercress salad, to which we add some snipped chives or thin-sliced green onion.

The recipe is from Castello Cheese, which crumbles their Danish blue cheese as a garnish.

RECIPE: ASPARAGUS & PROSCIUTTO WRAPS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. TRIM the woody ends from the asparagus. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus for 30 seconds (90 seconds for thick spears), until the asparagus just bends. Alternatively, lightly steam the asparagus in a microwave.

3. WHISK together the olive oil, vinegar and garlic and roll and marinate asparagus in vinaigrette 30 minutes at room temperature. Make extra vinaigrette if you are serving the watercress.

4. GATHER the asparagus into bundles of 8 (if thin, 4 if thick) and wrap each bundle with a prosciutto slice. Arrange on a platter or individual plates. Decorate with crumbled blue cheese.

5. TOSS the optional watercress with vinaigrette and add to the plate.

6. PASS a peppermill for fresh-ground black pepper.
 
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROSCIUTTO & SERRANO HAM

This is a complex question, because the authentic breeds of pig and curing techniques differ in Europe from what is permitted in the U.S. But a simple answer is: Both products are air-cured hams, with some differences in the breed and diet of the pig.

 
But it’s hard to state something definitively when you buy the product in the U.S. The best approach: Buy a small amount of each and decide which you prefer. If you’re buying it freshly carved (not pre-packaged), ask the counterperson what the brand is, and keep notes.
 
*Slender asparagus are easier to wrap; but if you can only find thick spears, use half as many.