Elevate Your Sandwich Game By Adding Some Fresh Fruit
If you're tired of eating the same sandwich combo when lunchtime rolls around, let us offer you a game-changing nugget of wisdom. The sandwich may be a humble meal, but it doesn't have to be a boring one. For example, many foodies enjoy throwing grilled avocado on top of their ham and lettuce to up their sandwich's taste and nutritional content. And other food lovers have taken to swapping cheddar grilled cheeses for ones filled with goat cheese for the same reasons. But while both of these popular methods for giving your sandwiches an upgrade will make a slight difference in mixing up the flavor of your go-to weekday dinner, they aren't tastily daring. No, these tips are just rehashes of the same defining sandwich principles — meat, bread, and vegetables, or, well, not-sweet fruit. To really up your sandwich's taste, you need to add in an all-new element. That's where sweeter fruit comes in.
Turkey spread with cranberry sauce. Chicken salad filled with grapes and apples. You likely have already noticed but haven't fully registered that sweet fruit and savory flavors have long been considered a delicious pairing. And as trained chef and revered recipe developer Lizzy Briskin told Insider, there's actually a good reason behind why stuffing sugary fruits into your salty food, particularly your usual sandwich recipe, will make it taste newly delicious.
Fruit and umami-flavor are a winning match
As respected chef Lizzy Briskin told Insider, your turkey sandwich and favorite grilled cheese fall into a flavor category called umami –- which is quite similar to savory. And by combining the taste of umami with the sweet flavor of fruit, the chef reports something magical happens. The fruit's sugar has a sweetness that chemically melds with the umami taste of your sandwich to create an extra layer of flavor.
That being said, if you want to utilize this trick we recommend you stir clear from citrus fruits and look for sweeter varieties like strawberries or pears to put on your sandwich. For example, take your usual turkey sandwich with cheese and veggies. Adding a few slices of fresh mango will turn this lunch from a run-of-the-mill meal to a flavorful midday treat. And if you want to level up your grilled cheese, try adding some sliced blackberries or apples to your toast. Though, if you'd prefer to skip cutting the fruit by hand, you could also simply add your favorite jam to your next ham sandwich to achieve a similar tasty effect — think of the Croque Monsieur after all.
Try these dessert-like fruit-based sandwich ideas
If pairing mango slices and turkey has made your stomach believe in the tastiness of sandwiches again, you may also want to try more sweet tasting fruit-upgraded sandwiches. Of course, strawberries will always be a delicious addition to your hazelnut-spread toast, and many enjoy sliced bananas on peanut butter. But have you ever thought about piling cream cheese and strawberries between two slices of white bread? By mixing your cream cheese with a sweetener like brown sugar and adding in this beloved fruit, you can make a sandwich that will remind you of eating a puff pastry. But if you really want to try a sweet sandwich unlike any other, you need to make the cream-meets-fruit Instagram favorite known as the Japanese fruit sandwich.
To make this viral treat, you should mix heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla together. Then, slather this sweet filling onto milk bread — a type of Japanese bread that's slightly sweet and high-volume, like milk bread. Though, if you can't access milk bread and you don't have the time to make it at home, white bread will also make a delicious base for this fruity sandwich recipe. Once you've put all the filling on your bread, add your chosen slices of fruit to each piece before squishing the front and bottom together. Then enclose your meal in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to set before diving into a cloud-like sandwich creation.