No Egg or Tuna: 8 Real Veggie Sandwich Recipes

If every time you order a “vegetable” in a bar they bring it to you from tuna, egg or chicken, this article is for you. 8 recipes for vegetable snacks, but really.

Vegetable sandwiches are a good option as a snack or snack anywhere and anytime. And, if we compose them wisely, these small bites can be healthy and balanced, as well as tasty.

Beyond adding a little lettuce and tomato to make them juicier, I propose you to change your notion of sandwiches for a more modern and pleasant one. Instead of resorting to processed, pre-cooked fillings or staying hungry, we will use a wide variety of fresh ingredients and combinations.

8 DELICIOUS VEGETABLE SANDWICH RECIPES

TEMPEH AREPAS WITH MUSHROOMS AND AROMATIC HERBS

Ingredients for 4 people

• 4 corn arepa breads
• 350 g fresh tempeh
• 250 g fresh mushrooms
• 1 tomato
• 1 avocado
• 3 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce or shoyu
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 small bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation 20 minutes

1. Mark the arepas a little in a pan or grill.
2. Wash the mushrooms very well and cut them into strips. Cut the tempeh into slices. Peel the garlic and finely chop it.
3. Sauté the tempeh over medium heat for a couple of minutes in a pan with the oil, and then add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme and salt. Leave everything a few more minutes.
4. Meanwhile, chop the cilantro, tomato and avocado and put them in a bowl. Mix everything with a little salt and lemon juice.
5. When there is no liquid left in the pan, add the shoyu, stir well and let it brown. Set aside on a plate.
6. Open the arepas and fill them with tempeh, mushrooms and one or two tablespoons of the avocado mixture.
7. Serve like this or let it cool before wrapping it to go.

You can add crushed flax seeds. And instead of tempeh, use black beans or azuki.

ROLLED BEAN HUMMUS WITH PIQUILLO PEPPERS

Ingredients for 4 people

• 8-10 roasted piquillo peppers
• 4 oak leaf lettuce leaves
• 4 durum breads or Mexican tortilla

For bean hummus

• 200 g cooked and drained white beans
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Half a teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Half a teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation 10 minutes

1. Put all the ingredients of the bean hummus in the blender. Beat everything together 3-4 minutes or until a smooth, homogeneous and unctuous cream is left. Try it and rectify salt if necessary.
2. Wash the lettuce and cut it into medium pieces.
3. Spread a durum or a Mexican tortilla and spread it well with the bean hummus. On top place some strips of piquillo peppers and lettuce.
4. Roll it up and wrap it with snack paper. If it is to eat at the moment, close it with a toothpick.

You can also use grilled or roasted vegetables, seitan, tofu … And add nuts.

LENTIL PATE

Ingredients for 4-6 people

• 300 g cooked lentils
• 1 garlic clove
• Half onion
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation 15 minutes

1. Heat the lentils in a nonstick pan with oil.
2. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion, and add them to the pan.
3. Add parsley, thyme and salt, and let brown for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender but not dry. Take it out and let it temper.
4. Pass the lentils through the blender along with the lemon juice.
5. Add the breadcrumbs little by little and keep beating until you get a texture that you like, more or less spreadable. Rectify salt.

GRILLED VEGETABLE SANDWICH

Ingredients for 4 people

• 8 whole-grain sandwich breads with seeds
• 6 lettuce leaves
• 1 red bell pepper
• 5 mushrooms
• Half leek
• Half zucchini
• Half onion
• Half a cup lentil pate
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation 15 minutes

1. Wash vegetables and mushrooms. Cut the pepper and leek into strips, the lettuce into pieces and the rest into slices.
2. Mix the spices in a small bowl.
3. Then put a pinch of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and the slices of vegetables that fit, without stacking. Place them in batches and brown them on both sides. Sprinkle it with a pinch of salt and a pinch of spices.
4. When golden, take them out and reserve them on a plate.
5. Spread half of the breads with the lentil pate and place the lettuce and grilled vegetables on top. To finish, close them with the rest of the slices, which must also be smeared.

If you add a few thin slices of apple, you will make the sandwich even more exquisite.

EGG-FREE MAYONNAISE WITH A HINT OF MUSTARD

Ingredients for 4 people

• 200 g silky tofu
• 1 small potato cooked
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons high oleic sunflower oil
• Half a clove of garlic
• 1/4 apple
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Half a teaspoon kala namak salt

Preparation 10 minutes

1. Drain the tofu, crumble it with your hands and put it in the mixer. Peel and wash the potato, chop it and add it too. Peel the garlic and add it. Beat everything until a homogeneous cream remains.
2. Peel the apple and cut it into pieces. Add it to the mixer along with the mustard and continue beating.
3. Gradually add the olive and sunflower oils and lemon juice, until you get a soft and silky emulsified cream.
4. Pour it into a bowl, put the kala namak salt and stir carefully with a teaspoon. Rectify salt.
5. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

VEGAN SALAD PITA WITH AVOCADO CREAM

Ingredients for 3 people

• 6 whole grain pita breads
• 1 cup drained vegetable stew
• 1 cup cooked and drained chickpeas
• 100 g tender peas
• 1 tomato
• 1 cup afalfa sprouts

For the cream

• 1 ripe avocado
• 100 ml vegetable milk, unsweetened and flavoured
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt to taste

Preparation 1 hour 55 minutes

1. Open the avocado, remove the pit and arrange the pulp in the blender along with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Beat everything together by gradually adding the vegetable milk until you get an emulsified sauce. Then, reserve the preparation in the fridge.
2. Lightly brown wholemeal pita bread on both sides in an oil-free grill skillet, over medium heat. Remove and open them.
3. Mix the vegetables and legumes in a bowl, pour the avocado cream over and mix it with a fork, trying to crush it a little so that there are no large pieces. Try it and add a little more salt if you consider it necessary.
4. Then cut the tomato into thin slices.
5. Spread the pitas inside with the salad and place a few slices of tomato. Finish the sandwich with the alfalfa sprouts, making sure they do not come out.

If you have homemade or purchased vegetable mayonnaise, you can use it instead of avocado cream.

RAW SEED BREAD FOR SANDWICH

Ingredients for 8-10 people

• 175 g raw almonds
• 50 g pumpkin seeds
• 4 tbsp. of flax seeds
• 4 tbsp. of chia seeds
• Half onion
• 2 peeled garlic cloves
• 100 g chopped zucchini
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 5 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. olive or coconut oil –
• A pinch of salt

Preparation 6 hours

1. Let the almonds soak for at least 4 hours and drain well.
2. Crush the ingredients in the blender 2-3 minutes, until you get a sticky paste with pieces.
3. Put the dough on a sheet of baking paper and cover it with another sheet. Stretch it with a rolling pin so that it is the size of a large baking sheet.
4. Place the dough on the baking tray, remove the paper from above, mark with a knife where you are going to cut and paint with oil.
5. Bake at 50 ° C for about 30 minutes and then 4 and a half hours more with the door ajar.
6. You can also do it in the dehydrator, in about 4 trays, at 35 ° C for about 7 hours.

MULTICOLORED LETTUCE WRAP

Ingredients for 4 people

• 8 large romaine lettuce leaves
• 8 spinach leaves
• 2 red cabbage leaves
• 2 Chinese cabbage leaves
• 2 carrots
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 small yellow bell pepper
• 4 radishes
• Half mango
• Half a block
• Half cucumber –
• Half red onion
• 1 small bunch of parsley
• 1 handful of broccoli or alfalfa sprouts
• 50 g lightly chopped walnuts

Preparation 10 minutes

1. Wash all vegetables and fruits very well. Remove the hard part of the lettuce, as it makes it more difficult to roll. Julienne or thin slices the rest of the fruits, leaves and vegetables.
2. To wrap each wrap, we will use two lettuce leaves. Superimpose them and, on top, place a little of each vegetable and fruit, parsley, sprouts and nuts.
3. Roll it up and, if you want, close it with cotton rope suitable for food use or go through it with a couple of chopsticks.
4. Serve as is or store in a container, preferably in the fridge, until consuming.
5. You can make the wrap juicier by adding a tablespoon of tahini sauce.

You can also make these wraps with Chinese cabbage or cabbage leaves. And if you want to give it a “sushi touch”, wrap it with a sheet of nori seaweed.

THE INDISPENSABLE INGREDIENTS OF A VEGETABLE SANDWICH

MUCH MORE THAN SLICED BREAD

It’s the first thing we see of a sandwich, and we probably think of a loaf of bread. If you resort to this type of bread, better choose it whole and handmade, with seeds, or made with other cereals.

But you have many other options. Innovate in flavor and texture with German bread, bagels, pitas, arepas, durums, Mexican tortillas or naans, and toast them lightly before.

Whole grain breads are richer in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. In addition, when roasted they develop more complex and delicious aromas and flavors.

Lettuce leaves, nori seaweed slices or rice wafers can replace bread in a wrap sandwich, very fresh and tasty.

THE KEY IS IN THE FILLINGS

If you like them creamy and with sauces, try making sandwiches with a 100% vegetable Russian salad. For an extra contribution of proteins and vitamins, you can include germinated or cooked and drained legumes: cooked chickpeas, azukis, sprouted lentils, peas …

Legumes in general provide creaminess, so we can spread the bread with hummus (chickpea pate), a bean cream or a lentil pate.

Grilled vegetables and grilled bream add a lot of flavors to the sandwiches. Use zucchini, eggplant, peppers, leek, garlic, asparagus… Cut them into slices and tie them with a pinch of olive oil and salt.

If you want it crunchy, add raw vegetables: julienned Chinese cabbage, red cabbage, grated carrot, lamb’s lettuce, spinach sprouts, sliced radishes, cucumber, tomato … They provide vitamins and antioxidants and hold up very well once the sandwich is made, packaged and stored.

THE TOUCH OF THE COMPLEMENTS

The sprouts of soybeans, alfalfa, onion, radish or broccoli, and sprouts in general, are a perfect complement, especially if we have filled the sandwich with pâtés or vegetable creams, with whose flavors they coalesce.

Germinating seeds, cereals and legumes improves the bioavailability of their nutrients. In addition, it is very convenient: you keep the sprouts in the fridge and you have a magnificent complement to any meal. Just take a handful.

There are fruits that are also excellent: figs, apples and avocados are able to improve any sandwich. Add a few slices to the filling before closing the bread and you will notice the difference. You can take the sandwiches wherever you want to enjoy a satiating and tasty meal.

Take advantage of these tips and recipes so that any sad meal at work becomes a moment of gastronomic pleasure, and that your picnics and outdoor meals are also healthy and nutritious.