Who doesn’t love a toasted cheese sandwich! However, let me explain ways to make it a bit healthier, and more importantly, more interesting and tasty!
The Aim
Before I begin, something that’s worth considering… Ideally you would get a variety of carbs, proteins, fats and colour across the week. So, when I give examples, try and think of lots of combinations that you like.
- Wholegrain carbs
- e.g. pita, wrap, bread, flatbread, bagel
- Nutritional Information: per 100g aim for at least 6 grams fo fibre per 100g
- Quick buy: just look for the brown version
- Protein-rich food
- e.g. tuna, chicken, turkey, lean roast beef, mozzarella, tofu, eggs, smoked salmon
- Nutritional information: ideally, to be nice and full, if your can get 20 grams of protein from this servingyou’ll be doing well. So, at least 1/2 a chicken breast, at least a small tin tuna, 1 ball of mozzarella, 4 thin slices of beef, at least 1/3 block of tofu, 2 extra large eggs or 3 medium eggs, at least 4 slices salmon
- Quick buy: when getting a sandwich made up in a deli, opt for plain chicken, meat, tuna or salmon slices
- Fat
- e.g. mayonaise (made on rapeseed oil often), avocado, guacamole, hummus, peanut butter, cheese, pesto, tahini
- Nutritional information: about 100 calories is a tbsp mayo/ pesto/ peanut butter/ tahini, 3 tbsp hummus/ guacamole, 1/2 small avocado, 1 big square of cheddar
- Small note: if you have high cholesterol, you need to be mindful of your butter intake. If you’re trying to lose excess fat, you need to be mindful of how many servings (each serving being 100kcal) you have. Don’t avoid fat in your sandwich as it makes it tasty, holds the toppings to your bread, provides lots of good nutrients and enhances absorption of certain nutrients.
- Colour
- e.g. tomato, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, rocket, peppers, onion, sweetcorn
- Nutritional information: a serving is 80g. That’s a handful ofchopped peppers or onions or sweetcorn. It’s a medium sized tomato. All doable. In terms of spinach, lettuce or rocket, it’s the entire bag! So, aim for 2 large handfuls of non-leafy veg and then add your leaves.
- Quick note: coleslaw is a bit like veg and the fat together. So, does count, but just be mindful of your portion and add more colour too. Also, have your veg on the side, or more veg on the side for extra fibre, antioxidants and micronutrients.
Sandwich 1
- Brown sourdough,
- Lots of cherry tomatoes,
- Some red onion,
- 1 ball of mozzarella,
- 1 tbsp pesto or 1 tbsp olive oil to drizzle over it prior to grilling. I sometimes use garlic-infused olive oil.
Notes:
1 ball of low fat mozzarella provides 205 kcal and 25g protein. A regular ball is 295kcal and 23g protein.
160g cherry tomatoes is 2 serve of veg. Depending on the cherry tomato that’s about 14. To give you an idea, I don’t expect people to count them 🙂
I love this toasted using the grill at home.
Sandwich 2
- Wholegran wrap
- Goat’s cheese
- Pear – 1 large
- Beetroot
- Walnuts – 15 g
- Honey
I love this toasted in the air fryer for about 8 minutes.
Sandwich 3
- Brown sliced pan
- Red Onion
- Tomato puree
- 1 medium tomato
- Black olives
- Cheddar cheese
I love this toasted in the toasted-cheese-sandwich-maker. Instead of butter on the outside of the bread, put mayonaise. Thank me later!
Sandwich 4
- Brown pita
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 banana
- Mashed blueberries
- 2 tsp whole golden linseeds
- 100g Skyr
I love this in the toasted-cheese-sandwich-maker. The Skyr is to dip the sandwich in when it’s cooked. I add the linseed to boost the fibre and offer a crunch. If I have them I’ll put more berries on the side.
If you’re thinking that this would be lovely for breakfast, you’d be right. I just wanted to open up your minds to the idea of something sweet at lunchtime when you have a hankering.
Sandwich 5
- Brown bread
- Smoked salmon
- Cream cheese
- Red onion
- Cucumber
- Rocket
The 100g packet of smoked salmon provides 21 to 25 grams of protein in just 140 to 170 calories. However, it costs 5e. Perhaps not an every day option for that reason!
Cooking a salmon darne for your self in about 10 minutes or less in the air fryer would be easier and cheaper. Plus, it turns it into a hot sandwich. Now, it does contain more calories, simply because it provides more omega 3 fat (260 calories). It also is salt free compared to the smoked salmon which tends to be quite salty.
Sandwich 6
- Turkish flatbread
- Tuna
- Mayonaise
- Gherkins/ cucumber
- Sweetcorn
- Red onion
There are many options for tuna. The tuna in brine is quite salty so the one in water would be better. Salt contributes to more diet-related deaths than anything else.
The tuna in oil is delicious. They vary in terms of how much oil, and you can always drain excess oil off. I bought mine off amazon, here’s the link.
Sandwich 7
- Brown bagel
- Chicken
- Avocado
- Tomatoes
- Leaves
Avocado’s are not a sustainable choice. We don’t grow them in Ireland and the race to eat them by the time they’re ripe, but not too ripe is stressful!
You can get smashed avocado in the supermarkets which contains just avocado and lime. You can slo get frozen avocado.
Sandwich 8
- Brown wrap
- Turkey
- Hummus
- Cucumber
- Tomates
- Red cabbage
I love red cabbage. All you have to do is grate it or thinly chop. It lasts ages in the fridge. Honestly, if you don’t add it to sandwiches often, change that habit today. It provides oodles of polyphenols and isn’t fermentable, so doesn’t led to bloating (in the vast majority of people).
