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What’s for Lunch?
Every now and then I crave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And when I’m feeling particularly low and want to cheer myself up a bit, I’ll make a PB&J and I’ll grill that sucker until the peanut butter runs shiny and smooth.
But mostly, for lunch — these days, anyway, when I’m on a strict low-carbs diet — it’s the guts of a sandwich without the bread. In which case, something with mostly meat (I’m a sucker for anything Italian cold-cut-y) but with the bread tossed aside, wantonly, like one of those ravage-the-heroine scenes from a Victorian novel.
Via BusinessInsider, a company called Datessential — which is, according to them, a “menu research firm,” which is, according to them, an actual thing — reports on what Americans eat for lunch, and what they’ll be eating more of in the future.
Short answer: lots of turkey sandwiches, both at home and out. Here’s the graph:
Let’s ignore, for a moment, items 14 and 15 — the “wrap” and the “vegetable” sandwich, which seem to me to symbolize America’s decline — and concentrate instead on the strange ho-hum popularity of the roast beef sandwich, which when done right is truly delicious. Is it languishing in the 9th spot because it’s rarely done right? Or, to put it more specifically, that it’s rarely done rarely?
The sub, I think we can all admit, is really another way of saying “I ate at Subway,” which is another way of saying, “Today I gave up a little.”
But then the “menu researchers” did some more digging:
The firm also took data from 100,000 restaurant menus to find out the biggest sandwich ingredient trends.
Barbecue, chipotle, and pesto have become nearly ubiquitous.
Ingredients gaining in popularity include kimchee, aged cheddar, and naan.
Kimchee, aged cheddar, and naan? Naan bread I understand — it’s Indian bread cooked in a tandoor (though I suspect it’s often just a kind of flat bread indistinguishable from pita) and everyone likes bread. I like it too much, which is why I have to defrock my lunch every day. And aged cheddar is just cheddar they’re charging extra for.
Kimchee is where I draw the line. A little here and there, okay. But on the march? Gaining in popularity as a lunchtime choice?
Let’s hope not. Unless it replaces the wrap.
Published in General
I’m on the low-carb kick — 20 pounds down since June — and my wife has come up with excellent concoctions for lunch. Yes, she has gone for turkey: thick smoked turkey breast slices with a nice Kerrygold Red Leicester. Today, however, she packed prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella with a side of pork rinds.
She is a Texan, after all.
I think why the roast beef sandwich is so far behind turkey and ham is that good prepackaged roast beef is hard to find, expensive, or both. Ham and Turkey are the budget meats (maybe not as cheap as bologna made from pork and/or chicken, but good beef only bologna is more expensive than turkey or ham lunch meats). Getting down into the weeds, if you go to your deli counter you can get decent roast turkey or ham deli meat for around $4/lbs where roast beef will end up running on the order of $8/lbs. In the prepackaged aisle the quality of the ham and turkey like from Carl Budding is much higher than the so called beef, which resembles beef about as much as tissue paper resembles silk.
However, deli roast beef holds very little next to real roast beef carved thin from a cold medium cooked prime rib or sirloin roast.
As you can tell I eat a lot of lunch meat, probably will die of some cancer because of it.
Got Milk?
That sounds awesome!
Smoked Turkey & Provolone (sliced extra thin) roll-up, with a side of celery lightly spread with peanut butter, no grilling required.
For the decadent, roll slice of bacon in turkey, then roll that in provolone (sliced extra thin), plain celery on the side.
Exchange the above with a smoked ham, or roast beef instead of turkey.
Grilled salmon with a sauce of greek yogurt with some Sriracha sauce stirred in. (maybe a little too kimchee-ish? I don’t know kimchee.)
Cheese Steak, sans bread is actually quite awesome.
The hardest thing about a low carb diet is there is often no crunchy. I make a little “relish” of celery, carrot, radish, onion, with a dab of olive oil and a pinch of balsamic. with fresh ground pepper.
I should open a restaurant…not.
I imagine part of this is dietary. Turkey has the least sodium and fat of the bunch. Ham has 3 times more, chicken is something like twice. I haven’t looked at roast beef, but I imagine it’s up ham way.
The PBJ is the healthiest (peanut oil, low sodium, good protein, and a fruit -though maybe a little sugary) but it is peasant food.
However, if you want really good PB sandwiches, you toast the bread first, and then immediately spread the peanut butter -before it can cool -then you get smooth liquid peanut butter on the outside but a firm root on the inside to hold whatever you put there. I like honey -you get a toasty, runny, gummy, runny sandwich to die for.
Surprisingly, pickles and bananas taste good in the center, too.
mm mmm good. You can use Ezekiel Bread. because it is made from sprouted grain, it has more protein than most regular bread, however, it is not without its dose of carbs. I only eat it once per week. You’ll find it in the freezer of your “nutty foods” or organic section.
I love kimchi, BTW. Bulgoki and bi-bim-bop are even better.
A couple of thoughts:
Natures Own Enriched wheat bread. (40 calories per slice, its pretty good)
There is a small cheese monger in upstate NY probably 1.5 hours northwest of where Peter was raised, maybe 30min east of Buffalo, called Kutters. They sell an aged extra sharp that will knock your socks off. Its so ridiculously good. I was visiting the folks the other week and got a 15 year old cheddar and it was amazing, the 5 yr old is probably the point of diminishing returns though.
When i was living in Korea we had what we called beef and leaf. Some kind of BBQed meat that you ate wrapped in lettuce leaves, with a variety of condiments. Kimchee being one of them. It was OK.
If I were to eat lunch I would choose Turkey, Tuna, or egg salad. Satisfying but won’t weigh you down midday.
Word of advice – Never play Operation with a guy who can slap naan in and out of a tandoor oven.
Maybe its because I’m a midwesterner, or maybe it is because pork is so much more versatile than most meats ,but I never thought beef was much good past medium, unless hot in stews . The absence of burgers (hot ground beef sandwich) in the list is startling btw. Steak and prime rib is wonderful, but prime grade getting really hard to find.
For BBQ pork is the only way to fly. Beef brisket is ok, but that’s about it for the smoker.
Since I am still packing lunches for my daughter, I usually cook up alot of chicken thighs and a pork shoulder to have for sandwiches and wraps . The key is a good marinade to add some flavor , which I think has to soak for 24 hours.
Turkey is some kind of commodity as it’s a lot of meat on the wing so to speak. When did we start eating it all the time ? Prepackaged and sliced I find it to be a good quick “stand at the fridge door” kind of snack shared with a dog, it’s last choice for sandwiches when compared to real meat,freshly sliced.
How about egg salad ? One egg, one spoon of mayo, diced onion and pickle, quick and easy. Wrap it in a lettuce leaf . Dont forget tabasco.
No hamburgers? I mean a burger is a sandwich. Maybe I am just imagining all the burger joints I pass when I am driving around, but what else would explain why the hamburger is not in the top 15 sandwiches American eat.
Seawriter
20lbs??? Wow. I’m in awe. I’m doing the same, but don’t have that level of success to report!
You had me until the pickles.
No. Sugar. None. Zero.
Make your PB sammich even better. Slap on a couple of slices of hot, crisp bacon and real butter. Heart attack…here I come! Yum!!!
I think Z in MT has it about right regarding the relative unpopularity of roast beef. I’d also note that deli meats tend to the slimy after not too long, and tossing $1.50 of turkey or ham isn’t nearly as frustrating as $3 of roast beef.
The kimchee thing (not a huge fan, myself, and my dad who was stationed in Korea hates the stuff, says he can still smell it permeating everything 50+ years after the fact) suggests that fermented/pickled food is going to take off popularly in the way that smoked, locally raised grass-fed, and spicy have previously. It can supply the crunch element, salt, acid, and (often) something vegetable-y.
Plus, it’s exactly the type of thing that can be pitched effectively to discrete niche markets: using X vinegar, Y salt, or Z old-worldy technique (only available here, doncha’ know) allows for a subtler, mellower, or more rounded product, etc.
Ok , Ya got a tortilla and some avocado, and you need cheese, or all is not right. Like this, the PBJ is one of
the perfect foods planned by the good side of the force, but not without milk. Without milk, a PBJ is a
kinda strange and hard thing to eat. This fundamental truth just came to me in a flash of intuition, and I owe it all to Ricochet.
I read somewhere yesterday (Drudge probably) that an element of Michelle O’s restrictions on school lunches is to allow hot pretzels but forbid the cheese that the kids enjoy dipping them in — which, as Rob has come to know, has the science perfectly backwards.
The beat goes on.
Actually pretty hilarious to think that the primary concern of the wife of the President of the world’s most powerful nation is what children dip their pretzels in.
I think roast beef really needs to be warm to be truly tasty in a sandwich–it brings out the flavor and softens the texture (and a deli roast beef with lots of red means that the collagen hasn’t been cooked into rubber bands). We simmer deli-sliced roast beef in water with a bouillon cube, while we saute green peppers and onions until they’re soft and caramelized. We use a hoagie (although you could make it without bread), layer the peppers and onions, the roast beast with some juice, then put a couple of slices of good provolone and pop it in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and a bit browned. Yums.
I’m low carb. I’ve lost 130lbs doing it for the past year or so. Certainly worth it.
I am not willing to give up good bread, but I have had some success by just reducing the size of the sandwich. Turkey pastrami makes a pretty good Reuben, and you can cut out a lot of fat and sugar by substituting horseradish mustard for the dressing. With good bread and a good pickle, a low-fat faux Reuben makes it on my diet.
I kinda go the opposite way. Very low fat, very little meat or cheese–I’m down to bread, lots of salad, and some yogurt.
I can’t give up bread. I make all my own bread with a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour. If I have to give up bread, . . .
I’m at the point where I’ve cut out almost everything else.
We’ll see how this goes.
I’m with flown here. You’re never gonna convince me that there are more turkey sandwiches consumed than BigWhopperMacThickburgers.
I was surprised to see BBQ pulled pork wasn’t in the table quoted, but it is sort of redeemed by the more detailed research showing BBQ is popular.
Although not a fan of doing away with bread, I did have a bread-free cheddar and hard boiled egg lunch yesterday.
Oh and what about left over cold pizza, as a sandwich lunch it’s unbeatable.
Turkey and ham are cheap. That’s why they’re popular. If they weren’t, every sandwich I eat would be roast beef. But beef prices are out of control. Then again, as cold cuts go, of the big three, roast beef has always been, in my mind, a luxury item.
If you want a low-carb snack/lunch item, I’d suggest taking a slice of ham (thicker works betters here), spread cream cheese across it, sprinkle on chopped scallions (in small amounts), and then roll it up into a tight little roll. If you then cut the roll into one inch chunks and put a toothpick in it, you can serve it to people.
But . . . if you serve it to people . . . that means you have to share.
Seawriter
Boar’s Head makes a blackened turkey breast that is a little pricy, but delicious. I like to put it on a sandwich with jalapeno cheese, banana peppers, a little mayo, and maybe some fresh spinach and/or tomato if it’s handy. There’s no reason in the world that turkey sandwiches have to be bland!
0% get their PB&J away from home? Are there no artisanal PB&J food trucks? Smells like an opportunity.