t Along
Creativity counts with these portable,
healthy-as-you-like, rolled sandwiches.
Asian hoisin chicken rollups
ANNABEL COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
T
here's something about the
rolled sandwich. It's compact,
neat and highly portable. It
seems lighter than its heavy
bread counterparts, too, with fillings
spinned in flour tortillas, expansive
lavash or specially made rectangular
rolling bread. What's more, the choices
are expanding to Crayola-colored flat-
breads, some flavored with spinach or
red pepper.
Here's probably the greater reason
twirled combos are the rage. Rolled
sandwiches just seem like healthier
choices, especially for those trying to cut
carbs from their diets. Because even
though a giant round of lavash has the
same calories as two big slices of good
bread, nearly always there is more filling
in a rolled sandwich than in the conven-
tional stacked variety. If this seems anti-
thetical — more filling, more calories —
here's how I figure it: More filling is,
well, more filling.
A rolled sandwich makes you feel sat-
isfied, so you're actually eating less bread
per amount of insides. The next advan-
tage is that almost no rolled sandwich
has one stuffing only. You need a lot of
ingredients to fill out a rolled sandwich,
or it does not roll properly (nobody likes
a flat rolled sandwich).
What are the fillings most people
choose? Lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts of
some sort, cilantro, cucumbers, olives,
etc. So while yoU may eat a "normal"
tuna salad sandwich neat — tuna only
— a rolled tuna sandwich usually has
extras in it. And those extras are most
likely vegetables.
Here's the equation: 1 large lavash +
1/2 cup tuna salad + 1/2 cup shredded
Romaine lettuce + 1/2 cup thin sliced
tomato + 6 thin slices seedless cucumber
= one sandwich. One sandwich feeds
two people. Get the picture?
That said, it's important to note that
tuna salad is certainly not the only
acceptable filling for a rolling. Here's
where you come in. Almost anything
you can eat as an entree is a candidate
for filling. Like a taco? Make it rolled.
Leftover brisket in the fridge? Roll it up.
Feeling like a Caesar salad? Stuff it into a
lavash.
To make your packing easier, buy
some of those square deli papers, the
kind they use to wrap pickles and pick
up doughnuts and bagels with: If you
can't find them at your grocer's, try a
food service establishment like Gordon's.
These papers make wrapping and keep-.
ing your sandwich wrapped a breeze.
Alternately, use parchment or waxed
paper to do the job. Wrap the whole
sandwich and cut right through the
paper.
The only proviso is that if your filling
is wet, as most are, and you are making
sandwiches hours before eating, you
must create a barrier of something dry
on the bread. It could be something as
simple as a leaf of lettuce or a very thin
slice of cheese.
Now that you know the rules — get
rolling!
SPICY ROI J ED TURKEY TACOS
8 flour tortillas (about 8 inches in
diameter)
2 cups fat-free or vegetarian refried
beans
4 cups shredded Romaine lettuce
1 cup pitted green or black olives,
sliced
2 cups thin sliced tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups lowfat or fat-free salsa, any fla-
vor
Turkey filling:
1 T. olive oil
2 1/2 pounds turkey breast meat, cut
into 1/2-inch cubes
2 T. minced garlic
1 1/2 cups chunky salsa
2 T. brown sugar
1/4 cup canned chicken broth
1/2 t. ground cayenne pepper
Heat oil in a heavy, large nonstick skil-
let over medium-high heat. Saute the
turkey until browned. Add the remain-
ing turkey filling ingredients and bring
to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer,
uncovered, until the sauce is very thick,
stirring frequently. Adjust salt and pep-
per to taste. Keep warm if serving imme-
diately or allow to cool completely if
wrapping up these sandwiches to go.
Lay tortilla on a clean flat surface.
Spread the one-quarter cup refried beans
over the tortilla to the uppermost edge
(this is the "glue" that holds the sand-
wich together), leaving a 1-inch border
on the side edges.
Arrange one-eighth of the remaining
ingredients over the bottom half of the
tortilla (the ingredients will "fill up" the
other half when you roll). Spoon one-
eighth of the turkey filling in a line close
to the edge closest to you.
Starting at the edge of the tortilla clos-
est to you, begin to roll up the tortilla,
enclosing the filling. Roll tightly, but not
too tightly, or the fillings will fall out of
the top of the tortilla or the tortilla may
tear. Practice will help you determine the
perfect roll.
Set the sandwich aside, seam side
down. Repeat with the remaining tor-
tillas and filling. Cut the tortillas in half
and serve.
Makes 8 servings.
SMOKED SALMON
LAVASH PINWHEELS
1/2 cup light or fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
3/4 pound very thin sliced smoked
salmon
1 cup alfalfa or other very small
sprouts
1 cup thin sliced red or Bermuda
onion
1 English or seedless cucumber,
unpeeled, sliced thin
3 T. chopped drained capers
4 12-inch or larger spinach-flavored
lavash
Combine sour cream and dill. Set
aside.
Lay lavash on a clean, flat surface.
Spread one-quarter of the sour cream
mixture over the lavash to the upper-
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2002
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