The meanest green sandwich with grilled halloumi and lemon spinach

Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? And not just a good one but a really delicious and healthy one. Marinated lemon tomato spinach paired with pesto, avocado and perfectly grilled and soft halloumi. Every single bite is a pleasure. 

Sandwiches are truly one of the best meals you can have. I mean, they consist of bread, and who does not love bread? And you can fill them with whatever you like!! Pretty genius to be honest. But really, today we are not going to make a basic boring sandwich. We are going to make a next level sandwich that makes your mouth water and still is ready in 15 minutes! 

What is special about this dish?

It is the unusual fillings if the sandwich! How often is the bread just spread with butter or mayonnaise and topped with ham and cheese? Way too often in my opinion. Not only, that it really is not healthy, but kind of boring right? In this sandwich we have an incredibly delicious combination of incredibly delicious marinated spinach that is tossed in a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, dried tomatoes and chili flakes, some delicious creamy avocado, a gentle spread of pesto, and let’s not forget about the star of the show, the soft halloumi. If you have never had the combination of avocado and halloumi, then now it’s high time.

Are sandwiches healthy and how to make them healthy

There definitely is no yes or no answer to this question. This really depends SO much on what the sandwich is made out of. If you have some white toast with butter, cheese and ham, then no, it is not healthy. There is no fiber but lots and lots of fats in it. But if you make one like this, it is fair to say that it is healthy. You have got nutrients and vitamins from the spinach, healthy fats and vitamins from the avocado, and a bunch of fibre and complex carbohydrates from the whole grain bread. The halloumi is nit super duper healthy but it is super delicious and the combination is what makes it. The sandwich is very well balanced out with healthy ingredients such as spinach and also deliciousness as the halloumi. 

But how can you make a healthy sandwich? With very easy changes, you can get a big difference in the nutritional value. It already starts with the bread. Instead of white toast, you can long for whole grain bread. More fiber and more complex carbs which will provide more nutritional value and will keep you full for longer. Then it comes to the spread. Instead of using butter, you can long for avocado, pesto or hummus for example. They all are loaded with unsaturated fats and are a healthier choice over butter. 

Then, what I always love to do is adding some kind of veggies. You can do some salad, like in this sandwich, or you can also do something else like cucumber, bell peppers, radishes or whatever you like! And for me, personally I always like to have something to be kind of the „star of the show“. So something kn the middle that really fills the sandwich and makes it taste amazing. This could be halloumi, scrambled eggs, smoked or pan fried tofu, smashed chickpeas or anything else to your desire. 

How to make this sandwich:

This is truly simple. First you need to marinate the spinach. For that you just need to combine the oil, tomatoes, lemon juice and chili flakes. Next you need to toast the bread. This is not obligatory but crispy bread just tastes better in my opinion. Next, you need ti spread the pesto on both sides. This way the bread will not taste dry and it adds a bunch of flavor. Now, we need to pan fry the halloumi. For this just add the halloumi to a pan and heat it up. And then it already is down to being assembled. Yep it is that easy! 

I really love this sandwich as a brunch, a quick lunch or an easy but still fancy dinner! It is packed with so much flavor, pretty healthy and incredibly delicious while it still is super easy to make! 

I hope you like this recipe as much as I do and will make it ok repeat! 

Happy cooking, 

Enjoy,

Katie