Be creative when you are thinking of cool but hearty dynamics for a summertime sandwich. Take just a moment to think of items that can second as the bread or base for your sandwich. One of them might be Hydroponic and/or European cucumbers which work particularly well with chicken salad, tuna salad and ham salad. Another item that you can usually find in abundance at your local farmers market or grocery is yellow squash.

When you use a cucumber or any other veggie for your bread be sure to clean them thoroughly; cut them on a diagonal to create the most area possible for your ingredients; and cut them just before serving. If you cut them too early, the center of cucumber and squash tend to darken and soften. This might cause a mishap as your ingredients will fall from the center of the sandwich.

Here?s a great recipe for a yellow summer squash ?sandwich?:

Buy two to three fresh yellow summer squash and clean thoroughly (be sure to get the wax off!).
Cut off the very top and bottom ends and discard.
Slice the squash at an angle all the way through. This should leave you with some nice, long, oval slices just perfect for your sandwich?s ?bread?.

On top of one summer squash slice, add two slices of cooked bacon; a small teaspoon of pico de gallo for spice (or substitute with chopped tomatoes and white onion); two leaves (cleaned) of basil; and three to four mandarin orange sections (peeled).

Top very lightly with a dollop of your favorite salad dressing or aioli. Then, add a second slice of squash to top your sandwich. MMMmmmmmm, a healthy, crunchy, cool summer time sandwich treat.

Here are some mix and match ideas for squash sandwiches:

Try pepperoni or a thinly sliced Genoa salami instead of bacon for an Italian flair. Or country ham for a saltier fare.
Use butter lettuce or watercress instead of the basil and tone down the herb flavor by adding more crunch.
Rather than mandarin sections, try a berry! Strawberry halves, split raspberries or blueberries are great replacements.
Add pomegranate juice to a light sour cream or plain yogurt and use in lieu of the salad dressing.

Another great idea to make your sandwiches special is to add a bit of decoration. After cleaning your cucumber or squash, use your vegetable peeler and peel away sections of the peel in an alternating pattern. That is, leave a section untouched; peel a section; leave another space untouched and so on. Do this until you have a striped effect on the peel of your vegetable. Now, you are ready to slice the cucumber or squash on the diagonal. For such a small effort and amount of time, this will give a plate of sandwiches a great look without sacrificing the structure and crunch of the squash or cucumber.