Ditching the bread doesn’t mean you have to ditch the sandwich. With a little creativity and an open mind, you can find delicious ways to still enjoy your fave handheld meal-in-one. Here are four simple ideas for crafting a newfangled sandwich while skipping the usual bread.

1. Fill your sandwich inside lettuce wraps. Biting into a sandwich nestled inside cooling, crunchy lettuce leaves is oh-so refreshing in these hottest of summer days. Skip your standard arugula or mâche greens for once--here, you’ll want to use the large iceberg or romaine lettuce. Find a large outer leaf without brown or soft spots, and give it a light rinse. When dry, fill with your sandwich ingredients. Our very own Jill Ettinger has a great tutorial here on making the perfect lettuce wraps. Take it one step farther and wrap the whole thing inside rice paper for summer spring rolls.

2. Stuff your sandwich inside a vegetable or fruit. Hollow out a large tomato or avocado and stuff the inside with your sandwich ingredients—egg or salmon salad as the sandwich filling make excellent choices. You can nosh on your creation with a fork and knife or go at it with both hands and a few extra napkins.

3. Use sliced sturdy vegetables as the “bread slices” for your sandwich. Using round slices of solid, sturdy vegetables, such as zucchini squash or cucumbers, you can make adorable bite-sized sandwiches without much modification. Simply slice your vegetable into thick enough “bread slice” equivalents, then fill gently with meats, spreads like hummus or pesto, and/or fresh herbs. There’s a lovely photo here on Pinterest from yackattack.tumblr.com to give you a little visual inspiration.

4. Have a go at making raw “bread.” This one’s kind of a cheat, depending on who you ask. Make your own raw “bread” at home, using a dehydrator and some basic nuts, seeds, and/or fruits and vegetables—and get a raw “bread” that is a completely different—yet very wholesome—take on the traditional model. This recipe for Raw Almond, Flax, and Veggie Bread on choosingraw.com uses leftover almond and veggie pulp from making homemade juices and nut milks.

Image: Vegan Feast Catering