Mini Sandwiches: Amba Egg Salad and Preserved Lemon-Date Tuna Salad

I’m an early riser—a watch-the-sunrise, shuk-not-open-yet kind of gal. By the time six thirty or seven rolls around, I need my “gateway breakfast,” a mini-meal to tide me over until people with more normal sleeping patterns wake up and I can move on to the second first meal of the day. Thank goodness for little sandwiches that satisfy without sending me back to bed for a nap. I find them in great cafés that open early, seemingly just for me. They’re almost always savory, filled with a tiny folded omelet, avocado, cheese, or—my two favorites—egg or tuna salad. Israel is not a canned-white-tuna land. Look for olive oil–packed, line-caught tuna, then load it up with bits of date, chopped preserved lemon, toasted nuts, and spice. Shredding eggs on a box grater makes my egg salad, mixed with Amba Mayo, light and fluffy. Make both salads in big quantities so you’ll have enough for a few days, not to mention a third breakfast in a pinch.

Makes 8 sandwiches (4 of each variety)

Active Time (for both salads): 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

AMBA EGG SALAD

⅓ cup Amba Mayo or regular mayo

½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

6 large hard-boiled eggs*

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

PRESERVED LEMON-DATE TUNA SALAD

Two 5-ounce cans olive oil–packed tuna, lightly drained

½ cup finely chopped toasted almonds

½ cup finely chopped pitted Medjool or Deglet Noor dates (this page)

3 scallions (white and green parts), finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped Preserved Lemons

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon finely chopped hot red chili peppers

Zest and juice of ½ large lemon

½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

TO ASSEMBLE

8 small seeded rolls

4 lettuce leaves

Tomato, cucumber, and radish slices

Make the egg salad: In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, salt, and black pepper. Using the large-holed side of a box grater, grate the eggs directly into the bowl. Stir in the chives and season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to use.

Make the tuna salad: In a large bowl, combine the tuna, almonds, dates, scallions, preserved lemon, mayonnaise, chilies, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add salt and black pepper, plus more to taste as needed. Chill until ready to use.

Assemble the sandwiches: Layer the egg or tuna salad on rolls with lettuce and slices of tomato, cucumbers, and radish.

*To hard-boil eggs, place eggs in a medium saucepan, cover with 2 inches heavily salted water, bring to a rolling boil, boil for 1 minute, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Gently crack the eggs, drop them into a very cold ice-water bath, and cool for 5 minutes. Peel under cold water.