Cottage Cheese, Tomato & Cucumber Sandwich
Mix Italian seasoning into cottage cheese before you spread it. That one step turns two tablespoons of plain dairy into the layer that holds this sandwich together, adding 13 grams of protein for 206 calories.
Arugula goes down first for a peppery base. Cucumber and tomato slices stack on top. Two slices of whole wheat, five minutes, done.
Mix Italian seasoning into cottage cheese before you spread it. That one step turns two tablespoons of plain dairy into the layer that holds this sandwich together, adding 13 grams of protein for 206 calories.
Arugula goes down first for a peppery base. Cucumber and tomato slices stack on top. Two slices of whole wheat, five minutes, done.
Ingredients
- cucumber 0.25 piece
- tomato 1 piece
- cottage cheese, 4% milkfat 2 tablespoon
- Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon
- bread, whole wheat 2 slice
- arugula 1 handful
Method
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Slice the cucumber into thin slices. Pat the cucumber dry with kitchen paper. Slice the tomato.
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Mix the cottage cheese with the Italian seasoning in a small bowl.
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Spread the seasoned cottage cheese on one slice of bread. Then, layer the arugula, followed by the cucumber and tomato slices on top. Season with pepper and salt. Place the other slice of bread on top and cut the sandwich in half.
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Serve the sandwich on a plate.
Pat the cucumber slices dry with kitchen paper before layering. Wet cucumber bleeds into the bread and turns the bottom slice soggy within minutes.
Behind this recipe
Is 13 grams of protein enough for a meal?
That depends on your total daily intake and how you split it across meals. Research on per-meal protein use found the body can handle more than the commonly cited 20 to 25 grams for muscle building. At 13 grams, this sandwich works better as a snack or alongside a protein-rich side. A boiled egg or a glass of milk brings the total closer to a full-meal serving.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I swap the bread?
Any sliced bread works. Sourdough adds tang, rye adds density, and white bread is milder but drops the fiber count. The 7 grams of fiber in this recipe come partly from the whole wheat, so the swap changes that number. All other macros stay roughly the same.
Does the cottage cheese affect lycopene absorption from the tomato?
Calcium can reduce lycopene absorption. One study found that 500 milligrams of calcium blocked up to 83% of lycopene uptake. But two tablespoons of cottage cheese contain roughly 14 milligrams of calcium, about 3% of that study dose. At this amount, the effect is negligible.
Read the full evidence review
