How to Make Any Sandwich Better by Toasting It

A sandwich is a great simple meal. However, sometimes turkey and cheese on some bread can get a bit boring and bland. Does it have to be this way?

No! Stop thinking of bread as the stuff that holds your sandwich together, and start thinking of it as an essential component to the flavor and texture of your sandwich. By taking a few extra minutes to toast the bread and your sandwich, you can greatly improve its taste.

What You'll Need

Of course, you'll need the normal sandwich fixings - meat, cheese, any desired sauces (i.e. mustard).

Oven. Doesn't need to be anything fancy. A toaster oven will do.

Aluminum Foil. Sure, a casserole dish or cookie sheet would do, but why dirty a dish when disposable foil works so well? However, you'll want to use a sturdier dish if you're fixing more than two sandwiches at a time.

Butter. Olive Oil would also work, but the butter is easy to spread.

Spices. Oregano and some ground pepper is great. Any herb-centered spice mix will do.

Step One: Toast the Bread

The first step in assembling your sandwich is to toast your bread.

Take out your aluminum foil and place the bread on it. If you're using a roll, lightly butter the inside, you can ignore the crusty outside. If you're using sliced bread, butter both sides. Lightly season the buttered sides of the bread with your spices - some oregano and fresh ground black pepper are a simple way to start.

Place your bread, inside up, into an oven pre-heated to 400 Fahrenheit and let it toast for about 5 minutes. When done, it should be lightly toasted, but still moist from the butter.

If you are using sliced bread, flip your two pieces of bread over. Place them under the broiler for 30-45 seconds. Watch the bread carefully, as it might burn quickly! You want it to be crispy and toasted. If you're using a roll, this is less important, but you could still place the crusty side under the broiler.

Step Two: Assemble the Sandwich

Once your bread is toasted, assemble your sandwich as you would normally. Leave it open - split the meat and cheese evenly between the two slices of bread.

Place the sandwich back into the oven for 3-5 minutes. When done, the cheese should be lightly melted and the meat should be slightly warmed through.

Step Three: Enjoy! And Improve

That's it!

Toasting a sandwich may seem trivial, but it makes a tremendous difference in the taste and texture of your sandwich. Your bread will be moist from the butter, but crispy on the outside. Your cheese will be slightly melted, helping to fuse the sandwich into a single item rather than a collection of parts.

This is also a great way to save day-old bread. If you buy fresh bread or rolls, they are definitely tasty - but they tend to start going stale after a couple days. By toasting them, you eliminate the problem of dryness. They simply toast up faster!

Once you've learned how great a toasted sandwich can be, experiment with ways to make it better. Different herb mixtures can alter the taste of the sandwich - and some herbs may be more appropriate for certain combinations of meat and cheese. Use fresh or day-old bread rather than processed sliced bread - Portuguese rolls and fresh Italian bread. You could also try seasoning the meat with a bit of ground pepper and/or herbs before putting it in the oven.

So what are you waiting for? Go toast yourself a sandwich for lunch!