Stretch Your Food Dollar: Pack Your Lunch, Part 2
Welcome to another edition of Stretch Your Food Dollar. Two weeks ago we talked about packing your lunch as a way of making your food budget go the extra mile. This week I’ve got another recipe that will turn an average sandwich into something awesome.
Remember all that turkey you stored in your freezer back at Thanksgiving? This week we’re making turkey salad sandwiches with a lemon and garlic aioli that will make your mouth water. If you don’t have turkey, you could certainly use chicken. And for the veg-heads among us, tofu ‘œchicken’ strips will work, too.
Turkey Salad Sandwich with Lemon and Garlic Ailoli
(Makes 4 sandwiches)
Aioli
1 cup mayo
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Sandwich filling
1 pound of cooked turkey, medium dice
1 cup seedless grapes, quartered
½ nuts, lightly toasted and finely chopped
1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the aioli ingredients together until thoroughly combined.
2. Add the sandwich filling and mix everything together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
3. Put your sandwich filling between 2 slices of your favorite bread.
That’s really all there is to it. I like to substitute dried cranberries for the grapes. You could use raisins instead if that’s what you have on hand. Pecans toasted with a little bit of butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar are just awesome, but almonds work well, too. If you really want to get fancy, fry up a couple slices of soy bacon and add a little avocado. You could tweak this recipe so many different ways. And the best part is that the filling gets better as it sits in the fridge because the flavors have a change to mingle.
If you’re packing this for lunch, be sure to keep it refrigerated because the mayo and turkey are both a high risk for salmonella. The best way to make sure your bread doesn’t get soggy is to pack your filling in a container and keep the bread in a baggy. Then assemble your sandwich right before you eat it.
Have a happy lunch, everybody!
Photo Credit: stock.xchng
Really loving the recipes in this series…Fine for dinners in too which we are having much more of!
Carol, I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipes. I love making them at home and then sharing them with you all.
Serena: I was wondering if you have always used mayo for your aioli recipes or if you’ve ever tried making it the French way with egg and olive oil? I too have used mayo but recently stumbled upon the egg/olive oil version in a recipe book.
Good question Nina – I’ve made aioli (and mayo) from scratch, but it’s really a pain in the ass unless you have a decent food processor. Why go through the hassle when you could just cheat?
Yum! I’m going to try this recipe soon, and am curious about making the mayo the “french way”. I wonder if it would be any cheaper though….?
Andrea, homemade mayo really isn’t any cheaper than what you buy in the store, because it calls for eggs. If you’ve been following the food prices, all poultry, beef, and dairy products are sky rocketing because of the switch from corn production for food to fuel. Unless you’re interested in making your own mayo to say you did it yourself or you’re worried about food additives, I’d really just stick with the bottled kind.