Five Ways to Build a Better Turkey Sandwich

When I pack my lunch in the morning, it's easy to default to a turkey sandwich. I pull the turkey out of the fridge, slap some mayo on the bread, put the turkey on, and I'm out the door. And since it's what my daughter eats for lunch, I'd be making one anyways.

For many people--myself included--the turkey sandwich is an easy, and convenient option for the brown-bag lunch to bring to work. The only trouble is that eating the same turkey sandwich day after day gets, well...boring. And when I'm bored with my lunch, I'm much more likely to go out. At $7 to $10 per meal, that can be very expensive to do often. Consequently, it's worth the time and effort (say, 5 extra minutes) to make those turkey sandwiches as interesting as possible.

Perhaps you are bored with turkey on white, or just looking for new ways to use up those Thanksgiving leftovers. If so, spend a little money to buy some fun extras or interesting breads. Then try these ideas.

One: Danish-style turkey sandwich
This is an open-face turkey sandwich on dark rye bread. Butter a piece of dark rye bread. Add turkey slices, and top with thinly sliced cucumber. You will need to wrap it in plastic wrap, rather than put it in a sandwich bag, to hold the turkey sandwich together. Plan to make two small turkey sandwiches for your lunch.

Two: Mexican wrap turkey sandwich
Sometimes, a wrap sandwich can be a bit more interesting than the standard bread. Wrap turkey slices or diced turkey, queso fresco, avocado, shredded lettuce, and diced tomato in a large flour tortilla. Bring a small container of salsa for dipping.

Three: curried turkey salad
To make the turkey salad, mix about 2 cups of diced turkey with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1/2 cup of diced celery, about a teaspoon of curry powder, and about 1/2 cup of grape halves. Make the sandwich with the turkey salad on wheat bread slices covered with a piece of lettuce to keep the bread from getting soggy.

If you have large leaves of iceberg lettuce, you can also pack a small container of turkey, skip the bread, and make lettuce wraps at your desk.

Four: turkey pita
Again, using an interesting kind of bread can liven up turkey sandwiches. Load pita bread halves with sliced or diced turkey, sprouts, and avocado slices. The sprouts at crunch; the avocado, richness. You might also try slices of turkey on pita with some leftover cranberry sauce.

Five: spicy turkey sub
Everyone loves a good Italian sub, right? To make one, cut off a piece of a French baguette and slice it in half. Fill it with turkey slices, capers, lettuce, sliced tomato, and picked peppers. If you like them, add mustard, mayonaise, olive oil, or a sandwich seasoning such as Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle.