Vegan Deli Sandwiches & Salad

One of the things that many of my non-vegan friends (which is most of my friends) think is that I spend a ton of time making meals because vegan meals are hard. I usually laugh and shake my head because nothing could be further from the truth. I spend time in the kitchen because I like to, also because losing weight requires that you take control of what you put into your body and that, sometimes, means experimenting or meal prepping, or cooking vegan food from scratch.

But there are times when I’m too busy working on my next Mustang Prairie novel, or (shameless plug) any of my other contemporary romance novels, to give my kitchen the love and attention it deserves. When that happens, I am like Joey from Friends (am I giving my age away?) and I just want a really good sandwich. A really incredible vegan deli sandwich filled with meat alternatives, lettuce, red wine vinegar and all kinds of other goodies.

This is an easy vegan sandwich that doesn’t require much work.

The best thing about whipping up a good sandwich, is that it takes almost no time. There are also plenty of hacks that can decrease your time in the kitchen if you want a vegan sandwich for lunch because you work at home like I do, or you have a make a sandwich to take into the office. Just…do what needs to be done to eat as many whole foods as you can, while enjoying what you eat, and you’re good.

The Bread

The first decision you have to make when it comes to any decent deli sandwich is the bread. I chose a fluffy potato bread, because I might have mentioned a time or two that I have a potato problem. I recommend that you use a bread that is soft, maybe a little bit chewy and most of all, doesn’t get so hard that it cuts your mouth when you warm it up in the oven.

For those of you who don’t use the oven…what do you use to heat up your sandwich bread?

The Works

Next comes the sandwich fillings. I used Verdino brand smoked chili salami and mortadella because I was doing this thing where I channel the dudes at Jersey Mike’s because when I lived in Los Angeles this was my hands-down favorite sub shop to frequent.

Grab some lettuce and scallions, rinse and spin, and toss with salt, black pepper, garlic granules and red wine vinegar. Set this aside and let that vinegar blend with the lettuce until you’re ready to assemble the sandwich.

Next comes the cheese. Cheddar is always a good sandwich option but if you live somewhere that isn’t Romania, I’m sure you have access to a wider variety of sandwich cheese than Cheddar, Gouda and Emmentaler, plus a few vaguely named yellow and orange vegan cheese options.

For toppings, get your favorite mustard, mayo (if you must), pickles and a few thick slices of tomato.

The Sides

Chips are an excellent side to any vegan deli sandwich if you have access to chips that are vegan friendly, meaning that are WITHOUT milk powder. But because of the aforementioned weight loss efforts, nutrients and fiber, I made a small side salad.

The choice is always yours, but if your goal is balance you should remember that vegetables are a thing and add them to your meals as often as possible.

Making a sandwich isn’t difficult but it doesn’t have to be bland and boring either. For example, I added a few grams of Sriracha to the mustard portion of my sandwich and it gave it a very nice kick, especially when paired with spicy dill pickles.

And there you have it, an easy vegan recipe for a deli sandwich. Show me your favorite way to do deli style vegan food in the comments, or find me on Facebook & Instagram.