The California Sunrise Sandwich

Seated at a sun bleached wooden picnic table, we shared our first meal of blue corn chips and Trader Joe’s salsa. Three horses lazed in the shade of a Buckeye tree near a deep steel water trough. Wes was likely the only vegan cattle ranch hand for 200 miles in that cowboy dominated region outside of Porterville, California in the early 90s.

We’d met just weeks before at California Hot Springs. I was there staying in a cabin with girlfriends. He was with an L.A. buddy visiting for the weekend. Wes had fled Southern California four years before in pursuit of a quieter life. Eighteen years later, we live on Kauai, even further from the buzz of all things metropolitan. 

Over the years his contribution to our menu hasn’t grown much. In the 90’s he lived on chips and salsa, interrupted only by a sandwich recipe he developed himself.

California Sunrise Sandwich

Serve open-faced on toast, drizzled with flax oil and a sprinkle of sea salt, then smeared with chunks of avocado, topped with sprouted sunflower seeds and drizzled again, heavily, with the flax oil and more sea salt. 

Most people know the sprout in her later stages of growth, with tender white stems tipped with two bright leaves. The Sunrise Sandwich uses the sprout earlier in germination, well before chlorophyll has softened the texture and greened the flavor. The beige winged youngster has a dominant nutty flavor and more crunch.

Raw sprouted sunflower seeds are hailed for being 25% protein and lavish in zinc and vitamins B, C and E.

Sprouted Sunflower Seeds

Sprout in small batches of ½ to 1 cup. 

The flavor changes dramatically once chlorophyll forms.

Rinse one cup raw organic sunflower seeds. 

Soak overnight on the counter. Rinse, strain, then place colander over a bowl on the counter.

Cover with a kitchen clothe to inhibit sunlight. 

Eat immediately. No waiting or mollycoddling required. 

Tips: 

• Keep them in the colander for daily rinsing, set over a deep bowl for air circulation. If they turn green, toss into the garden.

• Our favorite bread for toasting is the Alvarado Street Bakery Sprouted Rye. A tangy sour dough is also delicious. On Kauai tart sour dough is hard to come by. Trader Joe’s carried our favorite back in the day. 

• Flax oil of choice is Spectrum, but it has a pour spout not easy to control for drizzling. Barlene’s has an easy squeeze style spout but a stronger flavor than Spectrum. That’s why I go to the effort of refilling the Barlene’s bottle with Spectrum flax seed oil.