At first glance, you might say, "Oh, a Dagwood, so what?" But I call this "The Changeling Sandwich" because each bite is a bit different.

The "what" is discovering new flavors with each bite while still maintaining some key flavor profiles that make the entire sandwich work together.

You can experiment with many different meats, vegetables, and condiments, but here is one example of creating a Changeling with the meats, but using a slaw and some cheese to bring continuity.

Step 1: Collect Your Ingredients

For the slaw:

1/2 small red cabbage
4 green onions
1 course grated large carrot
1 tablespoon paprika
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
1 big pinch of salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

From the deli:

4 slices sandwich pepperoni
8 slices italian dry salami
4 slices hard salami
2 - 4 slices pastrami (depend on size of pastrami)
2 slices of ham
2 slices of turkey
2 slices of that weird looking olive loaf baloney meat thing
2 slices of Havarti
2 slices of Colby-jack

From the bakery:

3 slices of bread, i prefer a sourdough

From the condiments counter:

Rasberry-Jalapeno preserve (or any sweet-hot jam or preserve)
Fig spread (or any sweet preserve).
Avocado spread (our is 100% avocado, you can substitute fresh avocado)
Dijon-style mustard

Step 2: Make the Slaw

For the slaw, chop the red cabbage into thin slices, peel and grate the carrot (size is up to your taste, we like course grated), and chop the green onions.

Combine the rice-wine vinegar, mayo, and paprika into a bowl.

Whisk well.

Add salt and pepper to taste. This step should happen after whisking the other ingredients to allow to you actually salt and pepper to taste. Whisk a little in, add some more if desired. Remember, the vegetables in the slaw are relatively bland, so this adds the real flavor.

Once the slaw sauce is done, add it to the slaw vegetables in a small bowl, mix well.

Set aside.

Step 3: Toast the Bread

A little trick I learned watching a professional cook. Instead of dry toasting your bread, or lightly frying in butter, I like to lightly fry in mayonnaise.

Spread the mayo on both sides.

Pan-fry each piece (doing three, remember), until golden brown.

Flip, repeat.

Remove from the heat and set aside.

You will need the pan a bit later, so don't clean it yet.

Step 4: Build the Sandwich... Layer 1

Start with a slice of bread,

Apply avocado.

Add two slices of pepperoni in opposite corners.

Add two slices of italian dry salami in opposite corners (not on the pepperoni).

Repeat with two more slices of pepperoni and dry salami, keep them in their respective corners.

Add a layer of hard salami to the entire sandwich. Now it gets tricky again.

Lay a vertical strip of Pastrami on one side of the sandwich, and a layer of the Olive-loaf on the other. The sandwich should have two distinct halves (not crossing, like we did with the pepperoni and dry salami).

Add a layer of Colby-Jack cheese to the entire sandwich.

Apply a second layer of toast.

You are not done, this is layer one.

Step 5: Build the Sandwich... Layer 2

Add a layer of Turkey Breast slices, a layer of Havarti cheese.

A layer of Ham.

And... One more layer of Havarti. We love Havarti cheese.

Don't worry, this layer get's more good stuff.

Step 6: Warm It Up

I like to melt the top layer of Havarti. I place it back into the pan I used to do the toast, and place it under the broiler until it's completely melted, a minute or so.

Watch it carefully, the broiler is a fast acting food burner.

While it's melting, I squirt a little dijon-style mustard on the last piece of bread.

We are not done yet...