The Incredible Vegetable Sandwich
On Monday, I gave you my tips for avoiding the dreaded holiday weight gain. You can do it – and have fun – promise! One of those tips was to eat a light lunch when you know you are headed to a holiday party in the evening. Here’s one of my favorite light lunches of all time: The Incredible Vegetable Sandwich.
The inspiration for this sandwich comes from a cafe in Providence. Back in the early ’90s, I was working in Providence temporarily for a small consulting firm who was reengineering a Big Bank. This was just after finishing my graduate degree and just before beginning my traveling days with Big Consulting Firm. There was a small deli/cafe nearby where we often got take-out sandwiches for lunch. This steamed veggie sandwich was what I often ordered – without cheese! I was such a masochist – trying to lose the last of some leftover college pounds on Weight Watchers.
Now, it is my Go-To Sandwich when I want something warm but healthy.
Chop up some broccoli (cooked or raw – whatever you have) and grate a few carrots. Top with some roasted red peppers, also chopped. Heat in the microwave.
Top with some cheddar cheese and microwave it some more. Spoon the heated veggies and cheese into a pita, and voila – lunch! I recommend adding something with protein, such as a glass of skim milk, to help to round out your lunch.
So, how does the Incredible Vegetable Sandwich Score on the NuVal scale?
Well, the carrots score a 99 (remember 100 is best) and the broccoli scores a 100. The Pastene Roasted Red Peppers do not score as well as fresh, raw peppers. They score a 7. Last time I used roasted red peppers in a recipe, some readers asked me why they score so low. So I checked in with Annette Maggi, MS, RD, LD, FADA, Sr. Director of Nutrition for NuVal LLC. She said that these roasted red peppers have 5 calories per serving (80% come from sugar) and 85 mg of sodium, so the sodium for the calories is what is driving the score down. Additionally, while there is some vitamin C in the product, it has very little positive nutrition. Too bad! They taste so good.
I use Boar’s Head Cheddar cheese from the deli and NuVal has not yet scored deli cheeses as of yet. However, we have scored other cheeses that you would find in the refrigerated section. For example, Cabot Sharp Cheddar Slices score a 22. You might think that the Cabot Light Cheddar would score better. Well, it only brings the score up by one point to a 23. As for the pita, I use Joseph’s Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Pita. These nutritional juggernauts, which made my list of Top Ten Favorite Foods, score a 65, an amazing score in the bread category. And don’t forget, if you add a glass of skim milk, it scores a 91. Fabulous!
So, if you know you have a fun night of cocktails and hard-to-resist hors d’oeuvres coming up, have the Incredible Vegetable Sandwich for lunch. With cheese!
Winner of Trade-Up Tuesday
Congratulations to Commenter #41 Emily J, winner of yesterday’s Almond Give-Away!
Posted by: Melissa 6 comments
Posted in: Broccoli, Carrots, Incredible Vegetables
Tags: Broccoli, Carrots, cheese, Incredible Vegetables
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I love veggie sandwiches. They are my favorite! I love creating new ones too, yours looks amazing!
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Your sandwich looks REALLY good and Congrats to Emily!
Enjoy!
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Melissa, you can roast your own red peppers if you have a gas stove. I do it all the time. Wash them, dry them, put them right on the burner. (Take the battery out of the smoke alarm if your kitchen is tiny like mine.) Turn them with tongs when each side blackens. When they are mostly black, take them off and put them inside a bag or on a towel to cool down. (I’ve been using a plastic bag, but I may stop doing that b/c I’m concerned about leaching chemicals.) Wash them in a colander and the burnt skin, seeds, and stem will fall right off.
No sodium, and your kids will think you’re a TOTAL BADASS for cooking veggies on a direct flame! These won’t keep in the fridge as long as the jarred ones do, but it doesn’t matter, because you’ll eat them.
There is probably a way of roasting peppers with an electrical stove, too.
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Yum, that’s my kinda sandwich! And everything’s better with cheese!!!
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Sounds like a winner! Yum!
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Congrats to the winner!
Are those roasted peppers in oil? What the heck gives them a 7? Sad!!