Recipes! Weeknight Italian Beef Sandwiches, Grilled Merguez Patties, Cherry Gazpacho, hot dogs and more

What to cook during the week ahead, from Post Food editors.

One of the many things I love about sandwiches is how they are just as at home in a lunchbox as they are in a high-end restaurant. They can be thrown together haphazardly or assembled with architectural precision. Sandwiches can be exactly what you want them to be.

Take Aaron Hutcherson's Weeknight Italian Beef Sandwiches. If you've watched "The Bear," you're especially familiar with this Chicago staple, which features roasted, thinly sliced meat piled onto rolls, served with lots of the beefy cooking juices and heaps of pickled vegetables. The dish was born out of necessity and thrift, and could take days to prepare from start to finish. Aaron cleverly parlayed it into something manageable on a weeknight, thanks to two store-bought items: shaved steak and beef broth or stock, which he enriches with beef bones and seasonings. This is one messy, delightful sandwich and just the thing to bust out while you speed through Season 3 on FX.

When I was testing Julia Turshen's Grilled Merguez Patties With Cabbage Salad on my parents' backyard grill, all I could think about was when I'd have a chance to turn them into sandwiches. The spiced beef-and-lamb patties, bright salad and tangy yogurt sauce made for outstanding pita pockets, and while you can certainly serve the dish family-style without any bread, I highly recommend you consider it. (In the D.C. area, two of my favorite sources for pita are the Mediterranean Bakery and Yellow.)

And now to the eternal question: Do you consider a hot dog a sandwich? For the sake of today's newsletter, I'm going with yes. After all, this week we published a highly subjective guide to the best regional hot dog styles of America, written by Allison Robicelli and featuring six accompanying recipes that will help you make your own New York-Style, Sonoran, Chicago-Style, Carolina-Style Slaw, Coney Island and Seattle-Style dogs at home.

If you're looking for ways to step up your sandwich game, here are a few quick tips:

Think beyond sliced bread. I already mentioned pita, but I've also been known to tear or fold pillowy naan for sandwiches. Have fun with challah, English muffins, baguettes, bagels and even waffles.
Only toast the side of sliced bread destined for the interior. I employ this strategy in my BLT recipe. Just toasting one side means you can still enjoy biting into soft bread on the outside while ensuring the inside holds up a little better to spreads and wet fillings.
Try a flavored mayo. Sriracha, harissa, lime juice, chili crisp, tomato paste, mustard, roasted red pepper and smoked paprika are great options for mixing with the staple condiment (I'm a Duke's girl).
Bulk up vegetarian sandwiches with something unexpected. Could you use the Spanakopita Dip that Ellie Krieger featured this week from Alyse Whitney as a filling? Absolutely.
Cut your sandwiches diagonally. They taste and look better, that's just a fact.

What's your favorite way to make a sandwich? I'm eager to hear about it — and all your other cooking opinions and questions — in the live weekly chat I host with Aaron on Wednesdays at noon Eastern. Submit your questions now, and come back next week to see it unfold in real-time.

Until we meet again, happy cooking!