Today I’m bringing you some veggie basics for back to school or work! Sandwiches might be a simple recipe, but it can be weird to think about putting fixings in with out a “main filler” like lunch meat or even cheese. So here’s my perspective on building a good, vegan, whole foods plant based sandwich, with some foundational ingredients and tips and the rest you can mix and trade out depending on how you feel and what you like best. If you try out this recipe, please share it with me by commenting here or on my YouTube channel, or even tagging me in a photo on Instagram @plantsnotplastic. I read every comment and love hearing from you. Enjoy!
Basic Veggie Sandwich
Ingredients
- whole wheat or sprouted bread of choice I use Dave's
- hummus, sliced avocado or salad dressing [note#2]
- greens of choice [note#1]`
- thinly sliced tomato I use Roma as I find they hold together well and have less moisture than bigger tomatoes (like steak tomatoes, for example)
- pickles
- mustard
Other Additions
- sliced cucumber
- sliced jalapenos or banana peppers
- sliced bell peppers
- sliced mushrooms
- other favorite fresh veggies [note#3]
Instructions
- Toast your bread! [note #4]
- Add your sauces or spreads onto the bread first, before stacking your ingredients up.
- Cut your sandwich in half, eat it right away or pack it for a traveling lunch.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- My ranking of greens - I typically use spinach because it's what I have on hand, but my ranking of lettuce types goes: 1. butter lettuce, 2. iceburg, 3. romaine. I'm ranking these based on their ability to hold together, with enough moisture to not feel dry, but not so moist that it'll impart moisture into your bread over time. And let's be honest, romaine is just water in lettuce form!
- You're essentially looking to make a really good salad and put it in between two pieces of bread.
- I think of these listed ingredients as 'basic' veggie sandwiches ingredients. You can certainly add in other things like grilled veggies/mushrooms, tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc. but they will require more effort, be more calories (veggies/mushrooms excluded) and, in my opinion, don't necessarily increase how much you'll enjoy the sandwich, so sticking to just fresh veggies is going to be healthier, less, calories, and still taste great.
- I think toasting bread is absolutely necessary for a good sandwich. Even if you are not a fan of toast, toasting it for the shortest amount of time just to 'firm' it up will help your sandwich to hold together, where soft sandwich bread will absorb moisture, get soggy and fall apart (especially if you are making and packing your lunch in advance!)
Video Transcript:
Welcome back to Plants Not Plastic. I’m Nikita, and today I am going to give you my perspective on how a good vegan sandwich that is delicious, inexpensive, simple, healthy, whole foods, plant based, low fat and oil free.
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Sandwiches were actually one of the things I got really into toward the beginning of my plant based journey. My husband and I realized how good Subway sandwiches could be made with all fresh veggies and then quickly switched that over to making them ourselves. They also travel well and they’re a great option for situations where you need to pack a lunch, so they’re a perfect option for return to work or the start of the new school year. So here’s everything you’ll need to make this recipe. I’ll also leave everything in the description box below along with a link to the blog post with a printable recipe card, though for a sandwich I’m not sure you really need a nutrition label, right?
I basically think of my sandwiches like putting a really good salad inside two pieces of bread. And that being the case, the most important components of a good sandwich is the bread and making sure that it doesn’t end up soggy, but then also making sure that there’s enough moisture in the sandwich so that’s it’s not a dry, boring salad. Covering bread first, we’re obsessed with Dave’s Killer Bread and have been buying it for years. It is not the best zero waste option, though, because it does come in plastic packaging but healthy, whole grain breads are hard to come by package free. I do know that, in the past at least, pre…panini, you could go to Panera and have them put it into your own bag, but that’s honestly something that I haven’t tried in the last couple of years. If you’ve got suggestions, though, I’m totally open to them and would love to hear so let me know.
Toasting your bread is, that I think is not just a hack but a necessary first step to making a good sandwich, especially if it’s a traveling meal. Toasted bread is going to do a better job of holding up to your fillings for hours and staying firm and enjoyable when you crack into it for lunch. And while you don’t want a soggy sandwich, you also don’t want it to be too dry, so you need some kind of a dressing or spread. This can be straight up salad dressing, and you can check out my homemade, vegan honey mustard dressing for that, but you will want to use less water so that it is a thicker dressing. You could also go with a hummus, and I’ve got a bunch of ideas for that on my channel as well, or you could even do something as simple as avocado.
As for your greens, I’ll typically go with spinach because I’m lazy and we always have it around for salads, and I can typically get it without plastic packaging, but I rank lettuces in this order. Butter lettuce first, then spinach, then romaine, and iceberg as a last resort. I know these aren’t the only three lettuce varieties out there, and by all means explore away if that’s what you would like to do, but I just think between spinach and butter lettuce, they are the driest leaf and won’t make the sandwich soggy. They provide mild, enjoyable flavor without being overpowering like arugula, spring mixes, dandelion greens or bitter lettuces. And you could also go with kale if you don’t mind a lot of ruffage and raw chewing, where I think romaine and iceberg are pretty boring, but they still provide some nice crunch and not a lot of flavor.
From here it’s really just about putting in enough stuff to give you a good texture, color and flavor. I love a little bit of raw onion for some bite, some cucumber for some crunch, fresh sliced tomato for a little substance, and mustard and pickles or relish for some acidity and sweetness. If you’re going to add tomatoes, I recommend Romas because they’re easy to find and even though they don’t have a ton of flavor, they’re one of the drier tomatoes so you’re not going to risk making your bread soggy. Other ingredients options for a basic veggie sandwich could be things like sprouts, sliced bell pepper, halved grape tomatoes, thinly sliced mushrooms, or you could even whip up some simple coleslaw to throw in to give more crunchiness and tanginess. And if you a spicy food fan you could even throw on some sliced jalapenos or banana peppers.
These are things I consider basic veggie sandwich ingredients because you can pull them together without having to do much if any prep and no cooking, where a next level would include grilled veggies, tempeh, seitan, and other meat alternatives, all of which could be good additions but, at least in my opinion, they require more time, planning and cooking, and you’re probably going to enjoy the sandwich just as much with the more basic ingredients without adding extra calories. If you’re trying to stick to a whole food plant based diet, hopefully I have given you some skill to think about how to make sandwiches easily for lunch. And just like all my other recipes, you can get the full nutrition label on the blog and the recipe is going to be less expensive, have more fiber, and you’ll get to eat more of it than a non-vegan or processed vegan alternative.
So that’s it for today folks, see you next time. Bye!
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