This quick or on-the-go lunch will have you wishing you packed extra.

Melissa A. Matthews

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Jan 20 · 3 min read

Quick or on-the-go lunches make life much easier, even when you’re working from home. My partner and I both work from home and I’ll often see him whip up a quick sandwich to save time. I’m usually envious because I simply do not eat bread and therefore, sandwiches are usually not on my radar. However, as we’ve decided to focus on healthy whole food options this week AND I have tons of nori sheets sitting around, I figured it might be interesting to use them to make a bread-less sandwich.

You ever notice that when you think about something for awhile, you start to see it popping up all around you — almost like you’re summoning it to yourself? Well, that’s sort of what started happening to me with this sandwich. I started contemplating options and then my Instagram feed was inundated with different versions of seaweed wraps and sandwiches; twas like kismet — meant to be.

Most of the versions I’ve encountered to date included meat and didn’t quite have the Caribbean flair I was going for. So, I still had to rely heavily on my own creativity. So here’s what I came up with…

Ingredients

1/4 cup of cooked quinoa or a grain of your choice

1 Roma tomato sliced

1 cucumber cut into match sticks

1 leftover lentil/vegan breakfast sausage (optional)

1 small onion thinly sliced and pickled

1 large carrot shredded and pickled

1 nori (seaweed sheet) per sandwich

Jerk seasoning (dry or wet)

Soy sauce/ tamari or coconut aminos

Agave

Apple cider vinegar (or white)

Sea salt

Brown sugar

Pickle yuh things

Put your sliced onions in a small bowl. Add a dash of apple cider vinegar, a pinch of salt and a smaller pinch of sugar. Let sit for at least 5 minutes.

Do the same for your shredded carrots and cucumber matchsticks.

Make sure to slice and set aside your tomato as well.

Jerk yuh sauce

In a small bowl, mix a tablespoon and a half of jerk seasoning, about two tablespoons of agave, a small splash of apple cider vinegar, a shake of Badia Complete Seasoning, and a couple splashes of soy sauce — I use a dark low sodium variety. This will be your dipping sauce. Remember you are doing this to your taste so adjust accordingly. If you don’t love spice, do less jerk — if you want more, add more. You just want a good balance of sweet, spicy and salty. This was absolutely delicious, my daughter was eating it by the spoonful.

Prepare your filling

Your grains should be set out, you can use them at room temperature — you can heat them up if eating immediately.

Fry up your breakfast patty or any meatier vegetable (eggplant, mushrooms) or even tofu in a small frying pan with little to no oil. Baste your protein with your sauce until it is well coated and cooked through. Set aside.

Assemble your wrap

Take one nori sheet, lay it flat.

Add a spoonful of quinoa and spread smoothly across the surface of the nori/ roasted seaweed sheet leaving about half inch all around.

Next, lay your pickled vegetables on top of your quinoa and then your tomato slices on top of that. drizzle a tiny bit of sauce and a sprinkle of salt.

Then, add your protein. You can chop it up or leave it whole.

You can add in fried plantain here for extra heartiness or in place of the protein. I wanted a light lunch so I left the plantain out.

Don’t over fill your wrap because you will have a terrible time trying to wrap it, if you do. If you have a big appetite, consider making two or three of these babies.

Now, it’s time to wrap it. You want to use an egg roll or burrito technique. Cut in half and serve with a side of the jerk sauce.

Tah dah! A deliciously light and satisfying lunch without the guilt or heaviness of bread.

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