Ben is all about Thanksgiving food. Can’t get enough. I thought it might be fun, as we anticipate the upcoming holiday, to see how many traditional Thanksgiving foods we could reimagine in a club sandwich. That was the easy part. Making the meal relatively nutritious was the real challenge.
Thanksgiving staples we included:
√ turkey
√ sweet potatoes
√ dinner rolls
√ salad greens
√ cranberries
√ potatoes
√ corn
√ green beans
√ pumpkin pie
Perhaps you notice the glaring omission of stuffing and gravy. I know. They are my favorites, too, but something had to go. Fair warning: all the carb lovers out there will also be disappointed in our corn and potato applications. As Ben says, “Sorry. How it is. Can’t change now.”
It all began with my predictable fall craving for sweet potato dinner rolls. Frankly, they are a huge pain to make, but they are so good, and they freeze really well, so I made a triple batch. The recipe is found here:
Your Pictorial Guide to Making Thanksgiving Club Sandwiches:
Roasted Cranberries, Grapes and Tomatoes
1 cup fresh cranberries, or thawed, if frozen
2 cups red grapes
1 pint grape tomatoes
4 ounces diced pancetta
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
Combine all ingredients in bowl and spread in even layer on parchment lined sheet pan. Roast at 375º for about 30 minutes, checking periodically to see that the pancetta is not burning. Cool slightly and serve as side dish, or stir and mash to further combine if you are serving it as a condiment.
The sandwich had tons of Thanksgiving flavors, but was it really a club sandwich? We included:
√ bread
√ turkey
√ ham
√ cheese
√ pancetta (instead of bacon)
√ mayonnaise
√ tomatoes
√ spinach (instead of lettuce)
Sounds like a club sandwich to me!
Still waiting for the pumpkin pie to make an appearance? We actually baked and froze a crustless pumpkin pie weeks ago, then scooped some baked filling into a blender with frozen bananas and skim milk to make smoothies. If you don’t want to fiddle with all that, just blend pureed pumpkin, a little sugar, and some pumpkin pie spice with skim milk and frozen bananas.
Obviously, the various components of this meal must be made ahead of time (like the dinner rolls and the roasted cranberries) but if those are made, it is an easy way to gobble up Thanksgiving, club sandwich style!