In our last blog post, we featured healthy lunch ideas, and said that there’s really nothing wrong with having a sandwich for lunch – you just need to make sure it’s a healthy sandwich, and – to avoid boredom – prepare something more interesting than the all-favorite peanut butter and jelly.
To make your sandwich healthy, start by avoiding spongy white bread and choose whole-wheat or sourdough bread. While sweet spreads such as jam and Nutella are tasty, they are not very nutritious, so it’s best to minimize their consumption. Here are a few ideas for delicious, filling, healthy sandwiches:
- Egg salad sandwich. A substantial, filling sandwich – in fact, it is filling enough to serve as a dinner on your meatless nights.
- Whole-wheat bread spread with a generous amount of hummus, and filled with thinly sliced cucumbers.
- Turkey sandwich with yogurt spread – the delicious yogurt spread is made with VOSKOS®, sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan and seasonings.
- Whole wheat pita pockets filled with grilled chicken breast, grilled eggplant slices, tomato slices, and feta cheese.
- Whole wheat bread, spread with almond butter and filled with banana slices.
- Sourdough bread, spread with Dijon mustard and filled with roast beef, sharp cheddar and red pepper slices.
- Sourdough bread with pesto sauce, grilled chicken and tomato slices.
- Whole-wheat wrap, filled with a mixture of mashed white beans mixed with guacamole and grated sharp cheddar.
- Artichoke and egg spread sandwich – a nice alternative to a traditional egg salad sandwich.
- Leftover meatloaf sandwich – whole wheat bread with Dijon mustard, thinly sliced meatloaf and pickles.
Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional peanut-butter-and-jelly or cheese-and-ham. But it’s always nice to have alternatives. Remember that leftovers make wonderful sandwich fillings, and this includes meatballs, baked or grilled chicken, even baked salmon (great with Greek yogurt and scallions). Just wrap the sandwich well in cling wrap, and pack it with a cold pack so that it stays fresh.