Nutritious and delicious sandwich fillings

[Torrilin]

I am out of practice with sandwiches. I'm also running out of the house around lunchtime to do errands on my bike. This is leading to me skipping lunch (really bad plan) or buying a sandwich while I'm out.

So... lend me your sandwich ideas. They need to stick together fairly well and survive a bike ride in 80+ F heat, for 2-4 hours (I'm giving myself a window here for food safety purposes). Plain bread, pita bread, and tortillas are all available. If your idea is purposefully low salt, low carb, or low fat, warn a gal. I'm pretty regularly ending up with days where I crave salt, carbs or fat and feel sick until I get that day's craving. I suspect my diet and exercise levels aren't quite matched up the way they ought to be yet.

Please don't suggest peanut butter and jelly. It screams "dessert" to me, not "food", so I'm less likely to eat it when hungry for "food".

All I've come up with so far is a bean burrito might work. So any other ideas will be good, or I can foresee getting *really* sick of burritos.

[cfm]

Here is a savoury peanut butter idea that I have used since reading a book by Jane Clarke in the "Bodyfoods" series. Her plan is a bit more elaborate than this, but this works:

Grate carrot, shred white cabbage. Season all this with lemon juice and salt and pepper. Sandwich into brown bread with peanut butter.

Maybe this will make a more tempting peanut butter option for you.

Catherine

[srhcb]

There are some lunch meat sandwich ideas on this thread.

And don't forget MFK Fisher's favorite "traveling sandwich": Fried Egg on White Wrapped in Wax Paper!

[nakji]

Hmmm...so basically, you fear that most meat and cheese fillings wouldn't survive the heat of the trip? Is it possible to get a cold pack for your bag?

Alternatively:

Hummous and veg on multi-grain bread. (Just be sure to put the hummous on both sides of the bread and the veg in the middle, to keep the bread from getting soggy).

Roasted veg and feta cheese (harder cheeses seem to hold up okay in the heat).

Avocado (or even better, guacamole) and crispy bacon. Or Sun-dried tomatoes.

If you're not worried about calories and carbs, maybe leftover pasta in a baguette. (A rugby player friend swears by this).

A cooked omellette in bread.

A chip butty?

Onigiri?

Not sure about the strict food safety of all these suggestions...

[Torrilin]

It's more that I know 80F is a nice happy temperature for bacterial growth. So if I contaminate something, it may have lots of time to grow at a very comfy temperature with lots of tasty food. My body's giving me enough grief with adding all this new exercise (the "not hungry now, wanna ride" and 15 minutes later "OMG STARVING" trick is particularly cute). Don't want to give it any more reasons to be cranky with me.

A cold pack is definitely on the list of "useful". Problem is there's a lot of other stuff on the useful list, and it won't all fit in the budget at once. (A familiar problem I'm sure) I figure if I start with food that can take heat ok, I'll turn into a more flexible cook... and those ideas will still work with the cold pack later.

Some of these are sounding *really* good . *scribbles notes for the grocery list*

[jgm]

A restaurant I frequented in college would slice one end off a hoagie roll, and use what appeared to be a length of about 1" pipe to ream a hole into the bread, without perforating the other end. Then they'd stuff it with cheese, meatballs, and red sauce.

You could clear out the center of the bread with a paring knife, used carefully, and fill it with whatever you desire. Stuff like tuna salad would be easiest, but there's no reason you couldn't cut some meat and cheese into strips, wrap them in lettuce, and stuff them into the hole. Of course, you could line it with mayo and/or mustard, if you choose.

Edited to add: You could freeze a small empty bottle of some sort, filled with water, as an ice pack. Or use a ziploc bag, inside another ziploc bag, inside another ziploc bag. All but free.

Edited June 12, 2007 by jgm (log)

[SheenaGreena]

I have a similar problem as the OP of the thread. I go to class during the day (usually from 9-5) and I don't feel like paying extra for lunch when I can just take something from home.

As nakji suggested, onigiri are a great idea for lunch. I make mine the day before (sans nori) and eat them at school the next day. I pack the rice and the nori separately.

Also if you don't have an ice pack, may I suggest freezing a bottle of water, juice box, or some other form of liquid and packing it with your perishables during the day? By the time it's lunch your food will be safe and your liquids will be ice cold.

One of my favorite sandwiches (from a local place) has goatcheese, arugula, shredded carrots, sliced red bell peppers, avocados, vinagarette, all on whole grain bread. That would be a great and nourishing idea for you

[s_sevilla]

I bike 20 miles to work every day, and I find that the problem is not so much keeping the sandwich from sprouting a farm of bacteria, but constructing it so that it survives the ride intact. Tupperware helps, but the sandwiches can still disintegrate. I suggest falafal in pita bread, with a side of tahini or hummus. Avoid anything squishy and wet or that will wilt, like tomatoes, unless you want to pack them seprately and assemble when you eat. Consider making a store of tomato confit, onion confit, and roasted bell peppers, as they make the tastiest and sturdiest sandwiches. Use sturdy, artisan rolls. Any sort of cured meats (the stuff with sodium nitrates) should be fine over 4 hours, as will most cheeses. Think of it this way: If it already has good bacteria growing in it, it takes longer for the bad bacteria to grow in it. Also consider Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, which survive pretty well.

One more tip: I found that applying the mustard directly on the bread can leave you with a soggy sandwich come lunch time, so apply condiments on the other side of some sort of impermeable layer.

[nakji]

One more tip: I found that applying the mustard directly on the bread can leave you with a soggy sandwich come lunch time, so apply condiments on the other side of some sort of impermeable layer.

Isn't that funny? I just mentioned that tip in another thread. If keeping it all together is a concern, definitely a sturdy roll or mini-baguette will help - and wrapping in tin foil is better than plastic wrap, too. Although that might be more expensive.

[bigbear]

Freeze the sandwich?

[Torrilin]

I tested the frozen water bottle idea today. There are certain... issues. A single water bottle will thaw completely within 1 to 1.5 hours under these conditions. A 10 minute bike ride allowed a roughly 3" diameter water bottle to thaw about 1/2" of ice. I am boggled. The specific heat of water is not that low! I knew I was dealing with high heat, but I didn't realize quite how high. If I want to use this idea, I'll probably need to use 2 frozen bottles at once.

On the up side, the water stayed cold very well, and made it a lot easier to function.

I've also tried the peppers and hummus idea. Very tasty, and I'll repeat it. I'll report back as I try some of the other ideas.

[EmilyG]

I bought a very well insulated lunch bag at Target today for $3.50. You may be able to find something similar in your area.

My favorite sturdy sandwich is turkey, sharp cheddar, and apple on multigrain bread or baguette with grainy mustard. I find that grainy mustard is drier than Dijon, and apples don't make the bread soggy. It helps to start with a drier bread.

On the other hand, I have had a hard time finding good apples lately...

Great thread topic! I am always interested in hearing about new sandwich fillings.

[Fat Guy]

Freeze the sandwich?

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1. Freeze the bread.

2. Pack the sandwich in an insulated bag, the kind available for a couple of dollars at any supermarket these days (e.g., Kold-To-Go).

3. Put all that out of the sun.

Even in 80 degree weather, this arrangement should give you 3-4 hours before your sandwich reaches ambient temperature. In addition, you add very little weight -- these bags are extremely light -- especially if you get one that's sized right for your needs.

[WHT]

Freeze the sandwich?

←

That is exactly what I was going to say. Freeze it wrap it in layers of news print and thos annoying bags from the store and you should be good for a few hours.

[Fat Guy]

Depending on the sandwich, freezing the whole thing might reduce your enjoyment. Lettuce and mayonnaise are particularly weak when frozen, as are any salads made with mayonnaise. Cheese is so-so, as are cold cuts. I suggest freezing the bread and having the other ingredients at refrigerator temperature.

This morning I put a bottle of frozen water in one of those soft insulated pouches I was describing above and left it in our car. I just went back down to get it and it's still about half frozen. That's about 3 hours in the car, and it's 82 degrees out and the car has been in direct sun all morning. So, I really believe in these pouches, and they weight almost nothing: the one I have measures 2.8 ounces on our postal scale, and could hold quite a few sandwiches. I've seen smaller ones too.

[DTBarton]

My standards for no refrigeration are genoa salami and provolone with mustard or smoked kielbasa and provolone. onions and pickles are good on it too.

Another good trick if you like them is canned sardines. Bring a jar of mustard, some rye or pumpernickel. Don't open the can until you're ready to chow.

[jaynesb]

I realize that the topic concerns the fillings and not the bread but you might also try toasting the bread first (I found that on a hints sheet once for preparing lunches for kids.)

Unfortunately, my [9-year-old twin] children won't eat normal sandwiches but they do go wild over cooked then frozen empanadas that thaw out to room temperature by lunchtime. These are 9-year-old kids though. I've never tried eating my empanadas that way.

jayne

[Torrilin]

The guacamole and bacon idea struck my fancy for this week. Didn't transport it, since I remembered to eat lunch *before* I left the house. I'd probably try a waxed paper wrap for this, since that works well for Mexican restaurants. (Hrm I may do that today come to think of it, I'm still a bit nibbly and I need to get to the farmer's market)

Smear a tortilla with guacamole. Sprinkle with diced fresh tomato. Add a strip of bacon and some plain salad greens. Wrap as for a burrito. Devour! It's basically a BLT with guacamole instead of mayo, and a tortilla for bread. Just my speed.

I like guacamole fairly heavy on the lime juice, so I used half of a large and juicy lime for 2 tiny avocados. Added a pinch of salt, and a generous shake of dried hot pepper flakes (clean burn like Thai peppers, not bitter like jalapeno). Mash with fork until you have a smooth paste, and check for enough lime juice. It should have a mild burn.

Since all of the ingredients are ones that can store at room temp for a while, this is a definite winner.

[pennylane]

You cannot go wrong with falafel. Stuff it into a pita bread with some hummus and wrap it up in foil. It is awesome after exercise.