Healthy and Hearty Sandwiches

A sandwich is great as a whole meal that fits into your hand. Often sandwiches become blah, the same old peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese. Here are a few new takes on old favorites in our house.

Egg Salad BLT
PB&J with Bananas and Cream
Cranberry Chicken Salad on Croissant

Each of these is incredibly filling and can be a meal, even half of a sandwich, for a summer athlete. But even better is that each is incredibly delicious and nutritious.



Egg Salad BLT
Hard cooked eggs, mayonnaise, olives, celery, mustard, bacon, lettuce, tomato between three slices of bread. For six sandwiches I boiled seven eggs and added about 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1/2 cup of olives with some celery and mustard. I don't like to add salt because the mayo and olives have enough to season the egg salad.

The bottom piece of bread is covered with egg salad then topped with a second slice. A few pieces of bacon, lettuce and tomato are added before the final piece of bread.


PB&J with Bananas and Cream
After softening one block of cream cheese, add about 1/2 cup of strawberry jam and mix. Spread the cream mixture on one piece of bread and a liberal amount of peanut butter on a second piece. Slice a half of a banana into three layers, lengthwise. Arrange on top of cream mixture and put peanut buttered bread on top. This is a sweet, creamy treat, almost like a banana split!



Cranberry Chicken Salad on Croissant
Dried cranberries add a touch of sweetness to savory chicken salad. I often use a rotisserie chicken but find it just as easy and tasty to boil a few chicken breasts for this salad. After the chicken is cut or shredded, add enough mayonnaise to moisten and add about one cup of cranberries for three chicken breasts or one rotisserie chicken. A little bit of diced celery and some pepper are the only other flavorings you need for this. Fill a buttery croissant with about three spoonfuls of chicken salad for a great sandwich. This one is my favorite; I could eat these every day for lunch or dinner.




All of these sandwiches pack easily to be enjoyed as a meal by the pool or even on a picnic. Try one!