Roast Beef & Pesto Sandwich
Pesto and mayo mixed into one spread, layered with roast beef, mixed salad, and sun-dried tomatoes between two slices of whole wheat. Five minutes, 336 kcal.
Those sun-dried tomatoes are doing more than adding sweetness. Research by Karakaya and Yilmaz found that drying breaks down cell walls the same way cooking does, making 58% of the lycopene bioaccessible compared to 29% in fresh tomatoes. The fat from the pesto and mayo helps the body actually absorb it.
Ingredients
- mayonnaise 1 tablespoon
- pesto 1 teaspoon
- bread, whole wheat 2 slices
- mixed salad 1 handful
- roast beef 2 slices
- sun-dried tomatoes 2
Method
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Mix the mayonnaise and pesto in a small bowl.
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Spread one slice of bread with the pesto mayonnaise and then layer the lettuce, roast beef and sun-dried tomatoes 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 sandwiches on a plate.
Mix the pesto and mayo together before spreading. Dolloping them separately means one half of the sandwich tastes like pesto and the other like mayo. One combined spread gives you even flavor in every bite.
Sun-dried tomatoes showed 58% lycopene bioaccessibility in digestion testing, compared to 29% for fresh tomatoes. The sun-drying process breaks down cell walls and concentrates the matrix, and during digestion, stomach acid releases additional lycopene from the dried form. That gastric delocalization mechanism doesn't happen with fresh tomatoes.
Karakaya & Yilmaz, 2007 · DOIBehind this recipe
Why sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh in this sandwich?
Flavor concentration is the obvious reason. Sun-dried tomatoes pack more sweetness and umami per bite than fresh. But research by Karakaya and Yilmaz (2007) found a less obvious difference: sun-dried tomatoes show 58% lycopene bioaccessibility compared to 29% for fresh. The drying process breaks down cell walls similarly to cooking, which means these cold sandwich tomatoes deliver lycopene more effectively than slicing a fresh tomato would.
Is 16g of protein enough for a meal?
That depends on context. As a light lunch or afternoon snack, 16g of protein at 336 kcal is solid. If this is your main midday meal and your daily protein target is higher, pair it with a protein-rich side like cottage cheese or a handful of nuts. The macros here describe one sandwich exactly as listed.
Does it matter what type of pesto I use?
Any standard basil pesto works. The 5g is a small amount, enough for flavor without dominating the roast beef. Green pesto (basil-based) has olive oil as its primary fat, which pairs with the mayo to provide a consistent fat layer across the bread. Red pesto (sun-dried tomato based) doubles up on the sun-dried tomato flavor if you want more of that concentrated sweetness.
