The L-Plate Vegetarian

Sandwiches and packed lunches

Instead of the usual brown or white sandwiches, try using some of the other breads available in the supermarkets: oatmeal; rye; malted brown; softgrain or French bread. If you’re feeling adventurous there are several flavoured breads available now such as Cheese & Onion or Tomato & Basil, Black Olive or Sundried Tomato Ciabatta (an Italian bread made with olive oil). Or try using crusty rolls (the in-store bakeries have lots of different ones) or pitta bread – a flat Greek bread available everywhere that opens up like a pocket – good for stuffing with messy fillings!

Sometimes it’s hard to think up different sandwich fillings so here are some ideas to liven up those lunch boxes!

Sandwich Ideas

Peanut butter: With sliced cucumber, salad or even with jam (this is a very popular American sandwich filling, try it and you’ll be surprised how nice it is!).

Hummus (sometimes spelt houmous): This is a blend of chick peas and garlic etc. Buy it in tubs from the chilled cabinet or deli counters in all supermarkets. It’s really good spread thickly with grated carrot and salad, tomatoes or sliced olives – particularly good stuffed in pitta bread.

Vegetable Patés: Cauldron Foods Mushroom & Tarragon and Tomato, Lentil and Basil are really tasty and are in most supermarkets or health food shops. Plus they’ve three new organic flavours including Organic Spiced, Roasted Parsnip & Carrot Paté. Also try Tesco’s Mushroom Paté. Serve on toast or in a sandwich with sliced cucumber, tomato, salad etc, or plain crisps (yes, actually in the sandwich but add at the last minute for more crunch!).

Vegetarian Sandwich Spreads: Heinz Original Sandwich Spread or Co-op Traditional Sandwich Spread. Tartex is the name of a vegan sandwich spread sold in several tasty flavours in tubes from Holland & Barrett, health food shops and some supermarkets. Try Red Pepper and Mushroom flavours.

Marmite: With cucumber or thinly sliced cheese.

Vegetarian cheeses: Sainburys and Safeway have impressive selections but there are loads of different types of vegetarian cheeses available everywhere (always check the packet for the veggie symbol). Here are just a few that we found, apart from ordinary Cheddar of course: Red Leicester; Wensleydale; Cheshire; Caerphilly; Camembert; Brie; Mozzarella; Goats Cheese and Stilton. Try adding Branston Sandwich pickle, or for a change try Branston Chilli or Tomato pickle, Mango Chutney or any other fruity chutney, Safeway’s range is great: Hot & Spicy Mango; Peach; Spicy Fruit or Tomato. Grate and mix Cheddar with mayonnaise or salad cream and chopped celery or sliced apple – this may sound odd but it is really good (slice and add apple only at the last minute or it will go brown).

Cream cheese or cottage cheese: With sliced cucumber, grapes, grated carrot, salad, tomatoes (be adventurous and try sundried tomatoes – sold in jars of oil) or raisins. Philadelphia is the popular choice for cream cheese because the plain and low fat flavours also come in lunchbox-size mini tubs, and the plain range is also available with Chives; Garlic & Herb and Tomato & Basil.

Veggie sausages and chutney: Cook sausages following directions on the packet, slice and add chutneys or relishes. Try Bick’s Sweetcorn, Tangy Onion or Hamburger Relish (all supermarkets should have their own range of relishes in loads of different flavours) or try Mustard Piccalilli, available everywhere.

Avocado: Slice a ripe avocado, sprinkle with lemon juice to stop it going brown and add tomato or salad. Mozzarella cheese is also a great combination with avocado. Try not to leave peeled avocados hanging around too long as the flesh can discolour. There’s also a spicy avocado dip called Guacamole (sold in tubs at the chilled cabinets or deli counters of supermarkets) that makes a great sandwich filling.

Veggie chicken/ham/bacon/roast beef: Yes, it’s true, if you like the taste of meat, there are now several different makes of pretend meat in the shops: Redwood make Cheatin’ Meat Chicken, Ham, Turkey, Bacon Rashers and Roast Beef. Also look out for their chicken style cheatin’ barbecue bites, five-spice bites and tikka bites. Morning Star make Back Bacon and Streaky Strips bacon slices. All bacon substitutes need to be grilled or fried before using, but the ham, chicken and roast beef are eaten cold. Try adding salad and mayonnaise to the ham, chicken or roast beef, and add tomato ketchup or brown sauce to your bacon sarnie. All are available from Holland & Barrett, health food shops and most supermarkets. Redwood also provide an online shopping service (see here).

Quorn is a chicken style product made from mushroom protein and vegetable flavourings bound together with egg white. We found several of the Quorn products contain free-range egg albumen as opposed to battery, including the Quorn roast, mince, pieces, deli slices, paté and rashers.

Nutella – delicious chocolate/nut spread (all the supermarkets have their own brands too): Try with sliced banana. (Or why not try mashed banana on its own – delicious and healthy!)

Snacks for Packed Lunches

The deli counters or chilled cabinets in supermarkets have lots of finger sized nibbles including vegetable samosas (spicy vegetable filled pastry triangles); Falafel (little round balls made from chick peas – scrummy!); Onion Bhajis or Pakoras (little balls made with fried onions & veg), vegetable spring rolls etc. We’re impressed with the Indian Selection pack from Waitrose. You get four mini-size treats: Samosa, Onion Bhaji, Vegetable Pakora and Aloo (potato) Tikki.

Dips are good in packed lunches – try Hummus, Tzaziki (a garlicky yoghurt dip), Salsa (spicy tomato dip) or any of the dips from the chilled counters (check they are suitable for veggies). Dip in crisps (Kettle Chips are particularly tasty and come in many veggie flavours), tortilla chips, breadsticks, slices of pitta bread or crudities (sticks of cut up vegetables: carrots, celery, cucumber, peppers, mushrooms etc). Good ones include: Asda Cheese & Chive or Sour Cream & Chive dip and Waitrose Fresh Aubergine dip or for something a bit spicier try Somerfield Coriander Dip. Primula also make a range of dips that don’t have to be refrigerated until they are opened: Nacho Cheese, Garlic & Herb, Hot Salsa etc. But if you can’t make that final decision most supermarkets also produce packs containing three or four flavours, often with a low-fat option, so every tastebud is catered for.

Instead of packets of crisps try some of the following ideas as snack alternatives: popcorn; ready cooked Sharwoods poppadoms or packets of mini poppadoms; mini boxes of Sun Maid raisins – one item from the huge range of packet dried fruit; mixed nuts or roasted nuts – KP Nuts now come in great little tubes including Chilli, Dry Roasted and Salt & Vinegar flavours.

Also try sunflower seeds – a high source of calcium which is very important in any diet. Dried fruit fans should look out for Sundora Snack Packs, you can get apricots; prunes or an exotic mix with mangos and papaya etc. Also from Sundora is their low fat frutti max, soft, succulent apple pieces flavoured with toffee, fizzy orange, strawberry or fruits of the forest. These are available in supermarkets, but your local health food shop will probably have a larger selection.

Safeway have a great range of healthy snacks in handy little packets, either dried fruit (similar selection to the above) or fresh fruit and vegetables, depending on the time of year, but we found grapes, strawberries, baby carrots, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. But why not just grab a banana or an apple!

Everyone knows that when you’re just having one of those days a piece of fruit means nothing unless it’s coated in velvety chocolate, and thankfully most chocolate is suitable for veggies. But if you’re feeling more indulgent why not pick up a bar from Green & Black’s Organic range which includes cherry, almond and mint, and also vegan products too. Don’t forget Viva! also sells a huge range of vegan chocolate, fudge and even sweeties, just call 0117 944 1000 for a Gifts For Life catalogue! So whatever weight you add to your hips you’ll lose instantly off your conscience!

Instead of chocolate, why not try a slightly healthier but just as tasty option such as: Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain bars; Seeds of Change Organic Cereal Bars; Cadburys Brunch bars; Frusli muesli & fruit bars; Jordan’s Original Crunchy bars; Zaps fruit bars or Sesame Snaps. This is just a small selection of what’s available and you should be able to find loads more in your local health food shop, such as Yaoh’s Organic Raw Food Hemp bar and Euroviva’s Rebar bar which contains eight servings of organic fruit and veg!

These days you can find lots of interesting snack foods suitable for vegetarians in the supermarket. These are good as a treat once in a while, as they are quite expensive: cheese or pizza flavour Cheese Strings; Dairylea Dunkers, a portion of cream cheese with a choice of either bread sticks, jumbo chip sticks or pizza flavour dipping sticks. Fruit fans may also like to try Del Monte Fruitini, little cans of fruit pieces in juice, jelly or thick sauce; don’t worry you won’t need a tin opener – they have a ring-pull! Plus, it’s worth checking out the range of fresh fruit that’s prepared and ready to enjoy. Waitrose offer a good selection including fresh pineapple and a ‘Melon Medley’ – three types of Seasonal Melon.

See also the ‘Salads’ section for ideas on some of the ready made salads you can buy from the deli counters/chilled cabinets which are great for packed lunches, or a healthy snack.

Next Section: Hot Snacks and Tinned Food