I’ve never entirely understood the phenomenon of the complicated sandwich. Sure, sandwiches are nice. But if I’m putting in a lot of effort to make something to eat, I want something a little more rewarding than a sandwich. Chadwiko disagrees, proclaiming sandwiches to be amongst the most perfect foods ever created. It’s a sore subject in the Wiko house.

But despite my sandwich-related reservations, I had to pause when I came across Bryanna Clark Grogan’s recipe for bánh mì in World Vegan Feast. I never did try the classic street food sandwich during my too-brief time in Vietnam, and I did have some leftover seitan waiting to be used in the fridge… and admittedly, it did sound delicious.

Bánh mì chay

And it was. More surprisingly, though, this was nowhere near as much effort as expected- for a sandwich containing four separate recipes. The nuoc cham sauce and carrot pickle came together in a matter of minutes, while the marinated seitan was grilling. The fresh herbs here (I used basil and mint) were what set this apart and helped to make the sandwich simultaneously hearty and light-tasting. I may have to rethink my stance on sandwiches.

While sandwiches are terribly exciting, there was another notable event in the Wiko house today- the first birthday of our beloved mutt, Hank Scorpio. This might not technically be Hank’s birthday- he was a rescue dog of age ‘around three months’ when he joined us (on January 15th- we chose to take the ‘around three months’ literally)- he still deserved a celebration. And what’s a celebration without cake?

I halved this recipe for apple-peanut butter cake (for dogs!) and baked it in a mini-springform pan. A quick glance at the ingredients could lead you to believe that this is a healthy recipe for humans, and at first Hank wasn’t so sure that the cake was for him either.

But once he realised that yes, it was his cake, there was no looking back.

If Hank had thumbs, I’m sure he’d be using them to give his cake a thumbs up. Luckily for him, we made him pace himself and not eat the whole thing at once. There’s plenty left for tomorrow, though he’d best not get too used to this- I need time to make cakes for me, too.

But for now, he deserves to be a little bit spoiled. Here’s to many more happy years together, Hank.