Sumptuous Sandwiches

\"\"Someone I know took a peanut butter sandwich in his lunch bag every day – for seven years. Then what happened? He didn’t give up peanut butter, but when he finished school and got a job as a computer whiz, once in a while he ate a warm meal in the company cafeteria, to add a little variety.

Sandwiches are named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), who enjoyed eating while he worked and played. To avoid dribbling meat drippings onto the work on his desk and his cribbage board, he had his valet contain the meat between two slices of bread. This Earl wasn’t the inventor of the sandwich, though he seemed adept at getting things named after him. In his position as First Lord of the Admiralty, he supported Captain Cook’s Pacific exploration and Cook subsequently named the Sandwich Islands in the Earl’s honour. Just think, we might easily have been named Sandwichtown instead of Vancouver.

Variations of the hand-held lunch exist around the world. Asian versions include nori rolls, in which the wrap is a dried sheet of seaweed and rice paper wraps, which may contain rice, veggies and peanut sauce. In Mexican cuisine, we encounter corn or wheat tortillas as wraps for tasty fillings.

If you are facing months of bag lunches for yourself or your family members, check out the sidebar for some healthy ideas to make lunchtime more interesting. This is just a start. There are plenty of flavourful veggie “meats.” Combine slices to make a ‘Hero’ and fill a fresh roll with guacamole. Spread rice cakes with a variety of nut butters, with or without jam.

Check out the vegetarian sandwich fillings at natural foods stores and mainstream supermarkets. On New Westminster’s Columbia Street, a cute little market called Karmavore (www.karmavore.ca,            604.527.4212      ) offers a fascinating range of products from veggie meats and patés to the outstanding new Daiya cheese, which tastes good, melts and is soy and wheat-free. A favourite sandwich is the raw Tapenade Roll in a collard leaf at Gorilla Food on Vancouver’s Richards Street.

An easy meal to take when flying out of YVR is a package of vegetarian nori rolls, complete with pickled ginger. You can find these at airport concessions across North America These rice rolls also work well in lunch bags for those with wheat and gluten sensitivities. Oh, and we forgot to list peanut butter in the sidebar!

Vesanto Melina is a dietitian and co-author of the very new Cooking Vegetarian (in Canada), Cooking Vegan (same book in the US) Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, Raising Vegetarian Children, the Food Allergy Survival Guide, Becoming Raw and the Raw Food Revolution Diet. For personal consultations, phone             604-882-6782       or visit www.camd58.sg-host.com


Tempting sandwich fillings

Bread or RollSpread or fillingVeggiesOther spreads
Whole wheat subVeggie “ham”, “Tofurkey” deli slices, Daiya cheese slicesOnions, shredded lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, sproutsMustard, soy mayo
Rice paper wrapMarinated tofu strips (from supermarket or homemade), riceShredded carrots, cucumber, lettuce, sprouts, sunflower seeds, chopped peanutsPeanut sauce, plum sauce
Baguette or bagelSunflower seed paté, other veggie patéCucumber slices, onion, sproutsEarth Balance buttery spread
Collard leaf or lettuce leafAvocado slicesTomato slices, alfalfa sproutsOlive tapenade, lemon tahini dressing
Sourdough rollVeggie burger (hot or cold)Lettuce, tomato, onionmustard, ketchup, relish, Nayonnaise
Rye breadVeggie “salami” or “deli slices”Pickles or sauerkraut, onions, lettuceDijon mustard, soy mayo
Crusty rollVeggie pizza pepperoni slicesLettuce, black or green olives, tomatoes, onions, sliced green or red pepperSoy mayo, Dijon mustard
Multigrain breadTofu “cream cheese,” Sheese.Lettuce, sprouts, tomato, cucumberEarth Balance buttery spread
Whole wheat breadCanadian veggie bacon, Daiya cheese slicesTomato and onion slicesOlive oil brushed on outside of bread, sandwich browned in skillet on both sides.
Corn or wheat tortillaRefried beans, shredded Daiya cheeseRoasted cashews and peanuts, sunflower sprouts, avocado slices, shredded carrots, green onionsSalsa
Pita breadHummus (home-made or from deli)Diced tomato, onions, sprouts, olives, shredded romaine lettuce

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