Los Angeles has all kinds of restaurants. Exotic ethnicities and regional American specialties. Meat. Seafood. Vegetarian. Vegan. Old-School. New-School. Fast Food. Slow Food. But have you ever been to a really great toast restaurant? This Fennel-Edamame Chicken Salad Sandwich is inspired by toast (and the stuff you put on toast) as imagined by Jessica Koslow of Sqirl, a restaurant in Los Angeles. If you're not sufficiently impressed by the idea of a toast restaurant, then let me ask you this: Have you ever been to a really great burnt toast restaurant? Burnt brioche topped with homemade ricotta is how I came to love the place so much.
One more thing before I get to the Fennel-Edamame Chicken Salad Sandwich (on Toast) recipe. I want you to fully appreciate how unlikely the success of this restaurant is. This is Los Angeles. People are lining up on the sidewalk to eat toast.
Toast is carbs! See what I mean?
All joking aside, Sqirl may have landed on the LA scene by feeding us toast and jam, but the menu has broadened to include all kinds of seasonal breakfast, brunch and almost-lunch specialties.
This Fennel-Edamame Chicken Salad Sandwich counts as an almost-lunch specialty.
Fennel-Edamame Chicken Salad Sandwich
Last year Bon Apetit featured a similar Sqirl sandwich featuring springtime flavors like fava and tarragon. They didn't call their version a sandwich, but come on – Sqirl is a toast restaurant – this is definitely a sandwich. An open-faced sandwich. The very best kind.
My summertime version is sprinkled with fresh mint and lemon verbena from my garden. It's also laced with edamame beans because the only time I ever find fresh edamame is in the summertime. Come autumn I'll be making this open-faced sandwich with turkey, sage and maybe a few of those little red cranberry beans – on toast naturally. GREG
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