Turkey Avocado Sandwich with Sweet Potato Buns
This gluten-free, guilt-free sandwich option is packed full of super foods. It's sure to lift your spirits and shake up your boring lunch routine!
Ingredients
- For the buns:
- 1 large sweet potato (yam) - the thicker the better
- 1 TBSP coconut oil
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- salt + pepper
- Sandwich Components:
- A handful of fresh baby lettuces
- 1/2 an avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced lengthwise
- 4 few slices of thick turkey breast
- Optional garnish: Fresh basil leaves
Directions
- Step 1 Slice your sweet potatoes into quarter-inch rounds or the long way like I did. **See note below. Brush them with a little olive oil, then lightly salt and pepper them.
- Step 2 Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add the coconut oil and once the oil melts add the sweet potato rounds. They cook fast so keep a close eye on them. About 3-4 minutes on the first side and then only 2-3 minutes on the second. You want them to just start crisping up
- Step 3 To prepare the sandwich, place one sweet potato round down on the plate. Pile on the salad greens, then the sliced turkey. Top with avocado and more lettuce. Add a few fresh basil leaves if using. Place the remaining sweet potato round on top. Season with more salt and pepper if desired.
Idk about you, but my quarantine lunch time routine needs some serious spicing up. I have actually been defaulting to breakfast for lunch because I pretty much crave eggs all day every day. It’s a safe option, but today I decided to go all out and recreate one of my favorite lunch orders from our local natural market, BeWies (located in Armonk NY). Their turkey sandwich on roasted sweet potato “bread” is my go-to. The first time I ever had one I was little skeptical, but I’m telling you – this is such an amazing gluten-free alternative to bread. I will literally go out of my way to pick one of these up and I probably won’t even make it home to eat it – usually I dig in right in the driver’s seat. In my opinion, all sandwiches going forward should be made this way!
**I had to get a little creative since I didn’t have nearly thick enough yams on hand to make the perfect round bun they usually do. As I noted above, you want to try to find a really fat (read: wide) sweet potato because it will be the “bun” for your sandwich. It’s actually amazing that I have sweet potatoes in my pantry at all right now since Marc does all of the quarantine grocery shopping and he’s not a SP fan. But ever since I made my Loaded Sweet Potatoes, I started adding them to my list and he got me a whole bag of sweet potatoes (albeit, small ones). I personally prefer sweet potatoes to Yukons any day of the week, but even I almost forgot how good they were for lunch!
I sliced my sweet potatoes the long way and made more of a sub shaped sandwich. Different shape, same amazing taste. I also opted for flash frying my slices vs. roasting like Bewies does to save time and control the crisp. I fried them stovetop in coconut oil which has a deeper flavor and higher flash point. The key is slicing them thin enough (1/4 inch) so they’re crispy like chips on the outside but still soft on the outside. See that perfect golden crisp?
This is my favorite version of the sandwich – with lettuce, turkey and avocado, but you could use this as a bun for any sandwich you prefer. Tuna? Chicken salad? Maybe I’ll try them all! If you do, report back and let me know your favorite pairing. And please comment below and let me know what you’re doing to get creative -and stay healthy!- for lunch!