To celebrate National Sandwich Week (May 15-22) we have got all the info on what is considered to be the world’s healthiest sandwich.
Since the Earl of Sandwich paired watercress with cold roast beef in the nation’s first-ever takeaway back in 1762, watercress has been favoured as the salad leaf of choice in countless sarnies down the centuries.
In Victorian England, watercress between two slices of bread was the poor man’s breakfast releasing energy slowly throughout the day to sustain a much more physical lifestyle than the majority of us lead today.
As this year’s National Watercress Week coincides with National Sandwich Week, British watercress farmers decided to celebrate the role of watercress in the history of the venerated sandwich by asking leading nutritionist, Lyndel Costain to devise a super healthy and nutritious sandwich using easy to find ingredients.
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Recent media coverage of ‘the sandwich’ has focussed on how unhealthy the shop bought variety can be, dripping with fatty dressings such as mayonnaise and full of high in fat and salt ingredients such as bacon. In contrast, the sandwich developed by Lyndel simply bursts with health!
Containing a delicious and interesting mix of red salmon, avocado, light soft cheese, red peppers, herbs, strawberries and watercress, it is all held together between two slices of wholemeal bread. It provides foods from each of the four main food groups; two of the recommended three daily servings of fibre rich wholegrains; omega-3 rich oily fish - recommended once a week; vegetables and fruit – giving you one of your five a day; herbs that boost the antioxidant content; and calcium rich dairy food courtesy of the cheese.
The World’s Healthiest Sandwich is also brimming with 18 essential vitamins and minerals including 133% of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C and 180% of Vitamin D as well as good quantities of several B vitamins and key minerals.
Here’s how to make it:
2 slices of wholemeal bread
30g sliced avocado
20g light soft cheese
25g watercress
40g canned red salmon
3 sliced strawberries
¼ of a sliced red pepper
2 sprigs of fresh herbs, eg marjoram or parsley
Full nutritional analysis of the World’s Healthiest Sandwich (Per sandwich (%RDA))
358 Calories
19.9g Protein
39.9g carbohydrate
14.2g fat
3.7g saturated fat
0.6g long chain omega 3 fats
6.6g fibre
0.44mg sodium (1.1g salt)
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
