Sandwich Strategies for Work Lunches

As a defiant response to Sad Desk Lunches, the Food52 team works to keep our midday meals both interesting and pretty. Each week, in partnership with Earthbound Farm, we'll be sharing our happiest desk lunches -- and we want to see yours, too.

Today: Food52's Assistant Editor Marian Bull shows us how to pack a sandwich that will maintain its integrity until lunchtime.

Lunch sandwiches can be deceptive. You prepare one at home, slice everything perfectly, smear just the right amount of grainy mustard on your artisan bread, and set off for work, whistling a happy tune; then four hours later, you unwrap your small parallelogram of nourishment to find it soggy, and wilted, and altogether unappealing. You dump it in the trash when nobody is watching and you head down the street to buy a newer, better model.

But there is a solution! In the world of sandwich architecture, I find that compartmentalizing is the key to success: here, I cut into my avocado at the last minute, and carried my mustard separately to prevent sogginess. I sliced and stacked everything I knew would hold up for a few hours: rye bread, hard-boiled eggs, radishes, and chives. When I was ready to eat, on went the avocado and mustard, and my sandwich stood tall, triumphant, and sog-free.

P.S.: Here's a new way to wrap your sandwiches.

Tell us: How do you keep your sandwiches fresh?

We're partnering with Earthbound Farm to bring you always fresh, never sad lunch ideas. Because dinner shouldn't be the only time that you put care into what you're eating.