Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich

 

I have always loved sandwiches.  Put  a tasty filling between two pieces of bread and I am all over it like a rash. I am like my Aunt Freda in that respect. She also loved sandwiches and watching her enjoyment in eating one was an experience in pure and utter joy. Having been diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic several years ago, I had thought that sandwiches would be off the menu for me forever.  I recently discovered the joys of sandwich thins however and I am back enjoying what I have always loved!  Yay!

 

They come in several flavours . . .  white, brown, seeded, and high protein whole meal. You can also get gluten free ones. 

 This is the nutritional values of one of the High Protein Whole Meal Sandwich Thins, so as you can see, they get the green light in sugars and saturates and are very low in calories as compared to two slices of bread, with only 14.8g of carbohydrates per sandwhich thin, which is adequate for one sandwich. A slice of wholemeal bread has 16.9g of carbs and weighs in at 99 calories per slice, so double that for a sandwhich and you will see why I am now taking the sandwich thin route.  They are also great toasted so instead of my usual two pieces of toast that I was having in the evening, I am now having one of those toasted and thinly spread with sugar free peanut butter, fulfilling my desire to have peanut butter toast before bed.  I am hoping that in making small changes like this day by day I will be making a difference.

 

Today I used a brown one because I was all out of the protein whole wheat ones. (Actually I haven't been able to find them lately in my shops)  There is an additional 4g of carbs in a brown one, about the same as a white one.  Did you know that the only difference between white and brown bread is the colour?  Yep!  Brown bread is simply white bread with brown colouring added.  It is not any better nutritionally than white bread.  If I continue to have a hard time finding the whole wheat ones, I am going to have to figure out a way to make my own . . .  sigh . . .

 

This Curried Chicken Salad filling is delicious and very low in fat.  Using both low fat sour cream and a tiny bit of low fat mayonnaise, it is filled with flavour.  The Curry powder adds some lovely spice, and there is a bit of sweet from some chopped raisins and crunch from the use of celery and spring onions.

 

I like to add a hefty layer of salad greens to the middle of mine, which adds plenty of colour and additional nutritional value.  (Crunch too!)

 

Today I used superfood salad greens, which includes baby kale, spinach, rocket, peppercress, beetroot and baby chard.  Lots of colour and lots of crunch.  I love them!

 

You don't need to worry about the bread getting soggy if you are eating this right away, which is usually a problem with sandwiches that are going to be held for a long time prior to eating. If this is the case, and you are wanting to take this to work, I recommend bring the filling separately in a small container and spreading it onto the bread just before eating. That way you can get around the added fat and calories of adding a bread spread.

 

Altogether this makes for a very satisfying and delicious sandwich. with plenty of flavour, colour and crunch!  I hope you'll want to try it out. You could leave out the raisins and add the equivalent in chopped dry roasted nuts, but I like the little hint of sweetness from the raisins myself.

 

*Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling*

Makes 2 sandwiches

Printable Recipe 

This delicious filling features the crunch of celery and spring onions, along with the spice of curry and a tiny bit of sweet from some chopped raisins. 

30g reduced fat sour cream (1/4 cup)

1 TBS reduced fat mayonnaise

1/2 tsp curry powder (you can use less if you want less heat)

250g cooked chicken breast meat, cubed (2 cups)

1 stalk celery, washed, trimmed and finely chopped

1 spring onion, washed, trimmed and finely chopped

2 TBS raisins chopped coarsley

salt and black pepper to taste

  

Blend the sour cream, mayonnaise and curry powder together.  Stir in the chicken, celery, onion and raisins.  Taste and adjust seasoning as required with salt and pepper.  Use to fill your sandwiches. 

As a Diabetic I like to use whole wheat sandwich thins.  I put half of my serving of chicken salad on the bottom sandwich thin, and the other half on the top sandwich thin.  I add a hearty layer of salad greens and then put the two sides together, with the filling sandwiching the greens in the middle.  Yum!

 

Todd had his on a long buttered Brioche torpedo roll, without the salad. (He is not a salad lover.)  I didn't feel hard done by with what I had, in fact, truth be told I felt I had the more delicious of the two sandwiches!  Bon Appetit!