When I was in high school, I became a vegetarian for a number of years. Partly because when I was 14, I was diagnosed with super high cholesterol. I’m talking over 400 here. Way high! And going vegetarian was a way for me to control my own diet rather than relying on the whims of a Midwestern mother (aka, fats, casseroles, red meats).
There was a bagel joint near me… do you remember when bagel chains started spreading like wild fire and became the “in” thing in the early 90s? No? Just me? Well, it was a thing in my area, anyway. And one of those places had a vegetable bagel sandwich that my short-lived vegetarian self loved!
What’s funny is that I was still a pretty picky eater when I was a teenager. I hadn’t been exposed to a lot of different foods, was still iffy on onions and peppers and so-so on tomatoes. So, it’s funny to my adult self that I loved this bagel sandwich so much! And it’s something that has stuck with me over the years, with me slowly adding more vegetables to it as my tastes have flourished and grown.
I absolutely love this sandwich as a weekend brunch dish. It’s the perfect blend of breakfast and lunch, in my opinion. But, it’s so quick and easy that it makes for a great lunch any day of the week. And honestly, I’ll occasionally make this for dinner with a small handful of chips when I just don’t feel like cooking or cleaning up a bunch of pots and pans!
This dish couldn’t be easier to make but it is so packed with flavors. Don’t like any one vegetable? Just skip it! My son was a little freaked out by the alfalfa sprouts, so he skipped those. I love them! So I had plenty on mine! I skipped the avocado just to cut down on calories a bit. Normally I’d load up on those though for all the healthy fats in them!
Prefer plain cream cheese? No problem! Chive and onion cream cheese would be a great alternate cream cheese to vegetable cream cheese too!
Basically, this sandwich is definitely moldable to your tastes and easy to tweak. But all in all? You’ll have a delicious and super healthful sandwich within minutes!
Enjoy!
Easy 5-Minute Veggie Bagel Sandwich
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 sandwiches 1x
- Category: American
- Cuisine: Lunch
Ingredients
4 onion or everything bagels
1 avocado, sliced
1 beefsteak tomato, sliced and cut in half
½ English cucumber, cut on a bias
½ red onion, thinly sliced
4 radishes, thinly sliced
alfalfa sprouts
4 TBs fresh dill, roughly chopped
8 oz vegetable cream cheese
Instructions
Toast the bagels. Smear cream cheese on both the top and bottom halves. Lightly season the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Make the sandwiches by layering the avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, radishes, alfalfa sprouts, and dill. Carefully cut in half with a serrated blade.
That’s it! Eat immediately or wrap for lunch later. Enjoy!
Keywords: bagel sandwich, loaded bagel sandwich, veggie sandwich, veggie bagel sandwich, vegetarian sandwich
