SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP — Jim and Tamasin Noyes have been eating a lot of sandwiches in the past year.

Vegetarians for the past 32 years and vegans for nearly a decade, Jim and Tami don’t put meat between their bread. You won’t even find a slice of Swiss or hard-boiled egg on those sandwiches, unless the cheese is non-dairy.

“When we stopped eating dairy, we felt remarkably better,” Jim said.

While the vegan parameters may seem very restrictive to most carnivores, a perusal of the cookbook Tami co-authored, “Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!” suggest there is nothing boring or monotonous about the meat-free, dairy-free menu. The book has recipes for 101 different sandwiches, everything from Portobello Po’ Boys to Pan Bagnat, “the ultimate picnic sandwich.”

“We like sandwiches,” says Tami, who blogs about vegan cooking at veganappetite.com. “The book was kind of born from there.”

The author of “American Vegan Kitchen,” Noyes got the idea for the sandwich book after exchanging emails with Celine Steen, a California writer/photographer who also blogs about food. Tami suggested the book to Steen in June 2011, and the women went to work brainstorming categories. Each contributor then submitted a list of 100 recipes and whittled it down to about 50 for each contributor.

“We actually worked pretty well together,” Tami said. “She’s more of a fruit and vegetable person, and I’m into the vegetable proteins.”

Both women approached the subject from an international perspective, an important marketing considering. Not only are the recipes international in scope — Ethiopian wraps, chow mein sandwiches and Mediterranean tempeh — the ingredient lists were developed so readers in Europe, North America or China would be able to find a comparable ingredient.

Jim Noyes said there are many different kinds of grains, and therefore flours, that had to be taken into consideration when writing to an international audience. Even vegetables can be regional, as Tami discovered when researching potatoes for the British user.

“There is only one kind of potato in England,” she said.

They also had to keep in mind the fact that recipes, when translated into other languages, can take up more space because the words are longer. German, for example, takes up an additional 10 lines, which translates into “creative white space” for English readers.

Every recipe in the book was tested by the authors at least once and by a panel of 15 testers who volunteered for the project. “They were tested thoroughly and enthusiastically,” said Tami, who is a tester for other authors.

“A couple of the recipes were tossed out because they were too long,” Tami said. “We did a lot of tweaking based upon the testers’ responses.”

Jim, who loves sandwiches, was always ready to test the next recipe.

“I love the ‘Jimwich,’” he said, when asked his favorite of the 101 options. He also gives high marks to The Party Monster, which uses a green bread that Jim developed.

“He did the bread and I made it into a sandwich,” Tami said.

Each sandwich was beautifully photographed by Steen, who also had a hand in the design. Tami said she and Steen have never met in person; the entire book was done through online and telephone communication.

Tami has two other vegan cookbooks in the pipeline. One is dedicated to whole-grain recipes; the second is “Grills Gone Vegan.”

Jim, who is executive director of the Ashtabula Metropolitan Housing Authority, said he occasionally takes some of the test items to work with him so the non-vegan employees can get a taste of the meatless life.

Now that the book is done, Jim says it’s time to take off a few of those sandwich pounds.

“I love sandwiches, and Tami said ‘You’re going to be disappointed when the book is done,’” said Jim, who can look forward to testing the grill and whole-grain recipes.

The couple plan to roll out the new cookbook to the community at a fundraiser/book signing event Sept. 16 at Purola Brothers Bridge Street Pizza. The event gets under way at 2 p.m. and will include vegan pizza, samples of sandwiches featured in the book, a raffle with vegan items and copies of her book at a discounted price. Jim’s band Bobbiedazzler will provide music.

The fundraiser will benefit the Lasa animal sanctuary.

“Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!” is published by Fair Winds Press and lists for $19.99. E-book versions will soon be available.

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