Lunch box No. 1: Sandwich with baked tofu

Not in the mood for the bad food at your local canteen or work? The alternative is mealprep. This maybe sounds like a lot of effort but actually it doesn’t have to be really time consuming or complicated. This sandwich with crispy baked tofu is perfectly delicious and not a lot of work either!

I don’t know how you guys feel about this but I am this person who always brings their own lunch boxes rather than grabbing a roll at the next bakery or ordering fast food. Of course I do enjoy to eat out with friends or if someone cooks for me. But as a student I am on a budget and just can’t afford to eat out all the time. Preparing your own lunch box can therefore not only be the healthier alternative but also save a lot of money.

In the weeks before my exams from uni I often shared my meal prep in my story on Instagram and you guys really seemed to like this – this is why I decided to bring this topic up on my blog as well. When I have to study a lot (like 10 hours a day) I prefer going to the library. Although it’s only a 10-15 minute walk from where I live I don’t want to stress myself to run home, quickly eat something and run back to the library. This is the reason why I often prepare something to take with me the day before or in the morning. In this way I have a good lunch box prepared and enough fuel for my body to be able to concentrate and study effectively.

General Meal Prep Tips

1. Get the right box: preparing your own lunch boy of course means that you should get yourself a good lunch box. If in doubt, definitely go for a bigger size. You don’t want to end up hungry in the office, right?!
2. Plan ahead: if you don’t plan what you want to eat the next day you will probably fail at preparing something. So take the time to think about the next day and what you actually want to have in your lunch box.
3. Make something delicious: Sounds intuitive but somethings people forget about it. Prepare yourself a lunch box you look forward to eating – when you’re on the go temptations are usually big with all the bakeries, fast food restaurants, etc. so you should be so excited about your own lunch that there is no need for you to buy something instead.
4. Change things up: if you found a delicious meal to take-away with you that is great! However, make sure to change things up and try to find a few lunch box recipe which you really like so that you can vary your lunch box and don’t get bored.

This sandwich can be prepared the day before already and there is nothing between you and a relaxed morning. Just marinade and bake the tofu in the evening, assemble the sandwich (or do it the next morning) and you’re good to go.

For this sandwich I can recommend using firm tofu. Those of you who already have tofu experience will know that tofu tends to get softer when heated. You want your tofu to get nice and crispy on the outside so using firm tofu can help to achieve this. However, the result will be delicious both ways.

The highlight of the sandwich is the tofu marinade!

The marinade of the tofu is probably the most important part of this recipe as it makes the sandwich special. I used peanut flour – if you can, try to get your hands on this. It has way less fat than peanut butter and can be used for all kind of sweet and savory dishes. If you are not able to find it, don’t worry though! You can also use peanut butter in this recipe. It will work and taste good, too!

The tofu turns out…

• crispy on the outside
• super flavorful and delicious
• perfect for the sandwich or also chopped up in a salad

Sandwich layers

Of course you can get as creative as you want with the sandwich layers and adjust the recipe to your personal preferences. I personally love the combination of baked tofu, some lettuce, mashed avocado and hummus.

Tomatoes also go really well with this. If you don’t enjoy hummus or avocado that much you can use some kind of vegan spread. The options are endless.

I think this was enough said – go and give this recipe a try and leave me a comment down below! 🙂

PS: if you post a picture of your recreation on instagram make sure to tag @sheloveseating so I don’t miss it!

Print Pin

Baked Tofu Sandwich

Author Tanith Schmelzeisen

Ingredients

For the tofu

• 200 g tofu
• 2 heaped tbs peanut flour (or peanut butter*)
• 1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs almond butter or tahin
• a bit of soy milk

Other ingredients

• bread/ sandwich slices of your choice
• 1/2 avocado
• 100 g hummus
• lettuce
• 1 bell pepper, onion,...

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200°C. 
• Remove the tofu packaging, set the tofu in between of two paper towels and gently press down to remove excess water. Afterwards slice the tofu block in four thin (equally thick) slices.
• For the marinade mix the above listed ingredients in a bowl (make sure it gets not too liquid!), dip the tofu slices in it to cover them well and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper afterwards. 
• Bake for approx. 20 minutes until golden and crispy then remove from the oven and let the slices cool down. 
• When you're ready layer them with lettuce, hummus, mashed avocado and bell pepper (also onion if you like) between two bread slices and you're good to go!

Notes

* if you use peanut butter add 1 tbs of wholegrain spelt flour or oat flour in addition to the peanut butter.