This is an incredibly versatile recipe – you can do make what you want out of the Sandwich Bowl! The key here is lots of veggies both cooked and raw, some sort of lunch meat, and a tasty aioli!
In my version, the base is spring salad mix. I top it with roasted brussel sprouts and golden beets, tomatoes, shredded carrot and roast beef. BUT, you can do whatever you want! You can switch out the carrots for microgreens, the beets for sweet potatoes, and if you can tolerate grains – definitely add it! It’s maybe a little weird, but rice would go lovely in the sandwich bowl. And don’t forget about legumes! If you can tolerate them, I think roasted chickpeas or lentils would be a good addition.
This is the perfect work-week lunch. You can roast the veggies and build your bowl ahead of time. Easy peasy! Read the notes in the recipe for tips on dressings/aioli and sourcing the lunch meat and veggies.
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- 5-10 cups spring salad mix (amount dependent on preference)
- 1.25 cups shredded carrot
- 2.5 cups diced golden beets or one 10 oz package frozen golden beets
- 2.5 cups shredded brussel sprouts
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
- 15-20 oz of lunch meat or rotisserie chicken
- Aioli or dressing
- Preheat the oven to 350. Toss the beets and brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and put in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, start building your bowls! In each lunch container (I like to use Pyrex) put one or two cups of spring salad mix. Then put ¼ cup shredded carrot, and three to four ounces of lunch meat/rotisserie chicken in each container. Put the lid on each container and store in the fridge while you wait on the roasted vegetables.
- After 25 minutes, or when the brussels and beets are nicely browned, take the pan out of the oven. After the roasted veggies cool completely, take the lunch containers out of the fridge. Divide the brussels and beets equally into each container, then replace the lid and put the containers back in the fridge.
- During the week, just add your aioli or dressing of choice and enjoy!
I have a couple of great aioli/dressing recipes for you: ranch dressing, basil aioli, cilantro lime dressing and buffalo aioli (coming soon!).
It's difficult to find store-bought dressings that don't have junk in them. They're pricey, but I recommend either Primal Kitchen or Tessemae's if you don't want to make it yourself. Alternately, you could make your own simple dressing of extra-virgin olive oil and some sort of acid like red wine vinegar or lemon juice. It's so simple yet so yummy!
Lunch meat brands can also be tricky as well. If you're Whole30-ing, you need to look out for added sugars. And just in general, you want to look out for excessive sodium, nitrites or nitrates, carrageenan and MSG's. Here are a few of my favorite brands: Trader Joe's (you'll have to check the ingredients, but they have some good ones!), Applegate and True Story. Unfortunately, better for you lunch meats are more expensive, so sometimes a rotisserie chicken or roasting your own chicken might be a good option!