If you don’t know me by now, one thing you should know is that I love all things Mediterranean. The food, the sunshine, the lifestyle…the FOOD. The food itself exudes sunshine, the sea and the rich volcanic soil of some of my favorite places like Southern Italy. That’s where some of the best tomatoes in the world grow, and for the best basil, you need a constant supply of sunny, dry weather.
Since we lack a lot of that in the Chicago winter, and it’s been really getting to me, I decided to force a little sunshine into my life by making these Mediterranean subs with Deli Halal meats, since they are a wonderful source of healthy, halal protein (read more about their high quality and wholesome way of making their products here).
To make these subs, which are perfect for leisure weekend lunches or weekday school or work lunches also, you only need a few essential, but delicious and fresh ingredients. Most of these are things you could grab on your next trip to the grocery store and a couple of things you might already have in your pantry. Just be sure to find out where the Deli Halal is before you shop because their meats are what really make these sandwiches exceptionally meaty and delicious- and something I haven’t had in over a decade because I’ve never really found a deli meat I could say I would eat on a regular basis due to its great flavor, authenticity and commitment to being as wholesome as possible.
To start out, I use all of the beef varieties of Deli Halal meats. They do offer a delicious, nitrite-free chicken breast but I didn’t include it in this recipe. Instead, I used their Beef Pastrami, Beef Salami, Corned Beef and Roast Beef (which tastes like a homemade roast beef that has just been sliced). And, of course, some deliciously fresh rustic Italian bread, which I sliced in half on the horizontal so that I could add my spreads and toppings easily.
What are those delicious toppings? You can variate when necessary or if there is something you don’t like or don’t have instead, but here’s what I did that just tasted amazing and fresh and very Mediterranean:
Rustic Italian bread- make sure it’s the real stuff and that it’s not so dense that you can’t really cut your teeth into it when you’re eating the sandwich!
Pesto (make or buy your own. If you make your own, be sure you start off with the freshest pine nuts. If you have preserved your basil like I did here, making the pesto from that should be just fine).
Good quality mayonnaise. Again, you can make your own or buy the kind with olive oil or an artisan variety. I particularly love the Lithuanian brands, which are easily found in the Polish aisle of many international grocers in major cities like Chicago. It’s just light and creamy and made with very few ingredients.
Good quality bufala mozzarella cheese. If you don’t have this, sprinkles of grated Parmesan work well, too. If you have neither, try something like a thinly-sliced yogurt cheese.
Fresh basil leaves. There really isn’t any substitute.
Fresh tomatoes, preferably Roma or on-the-vine tomatoes. Again, no real substitute for these.
(Optional) Fresh oregano in olive oil with a tad of sea salt. This is like an added dressing which you don’t really need because the sandwich will already have the pesto which is in olive oil, but it’s just an added touch I really like.
Once the bread is cut, spread one side with pesto and one side with mayonnaise.
On one side, layer with basil leaves, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella or other cheese and the optional oregano oil.
On the other side, layer with the stack of meats: Salami, Corned Beef, Pastrami and Roast Beef. Close them up and either eat them up (as is or warm for a bit in the oven/toaster oven) OR cut the bread into generous portions where the entire loaf can feed a small crowd.
I add toothpicks to each portion to keep it all in place.
Nice and meaty, full of flavors that are fresh and pungent and packed with healthy ingredients you can feel good about eating and serving.
Perfect for a party, perfect for lunches. That’s what good food is all about, right? #SpreadtheHalal
Meaty Mediterranean Subs
Makes 4-6 portions of ‘sandwiches’
INGREDIENTS
1 large loaf rustic Italian bread, sliced in half lengthwise
4-6 tablespoons pesto
4-6 tablespoons mayonnaise
6-8 fresh basil leaves
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
3-4 slices each Deli Halal meats: Beef Salami, Roast Beef, Corned Beef, Beef Pastrami
Once the bread is cut, spread one side with pesto and one side with mayonnaise.
On one side, layer with basil leaves, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella or other cheese and the optional oregano oil.
On the other side, layer with the stack of meats: Salami, Corned Beef, Pastrami and Roast Beef. Close them up and either eat them up (as is or warm for a bit in the oven/toaster oven) OR cut the bread into generous portions where the entire loaf can feed a small crowd.
Serve as-is or after warming in an oven. Add toothpicks to each portion to keep it all in place.
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Deli Halal will also be participating in the upcoming I Heart Halal Festival in Chicago from April 13-15 at Navy Pier. Be sure to come out and visit so you can talk to them directly!
One of the first types of food creations I ever made as a young cook were sandwiches. I was a bit of a latch-key kid around junior high school time, which was a wonderful experience in the sense that my parents left me all the tools I needed to make a no-cook after-school snack, and it left me total freedom to create whatever I wanted with with what they allowed me to use: good bread, lunch meats, and a variety of condiments. I began sandwiches for myself that I like so much that I asked my also made them for my parents, who encouraged me to keep experimenting, and also to any friends who came home with me after school. I think it was then that I realized I wanted nurture people with food for a living.
Once I started eating halal (many, many years later), I realized there was little to no chance I’d be making these same type of sandwiches I grew up making, for a very long time- or at least until someone would come up with the idea of making the variety of deli meats I knew, only of course as dhabiha halal varieties. Most of the stores I shopped in to get my halal meats didn’t have anything close to varieties like corned beef or roast beef, for example. The most familiar thing I saw was smoked turkey– which excited me, but at the same time left me disappointed by the lack of labels to understand where it was coming from and who could be contacted about the source of the meat.
Fast forward to many more years later and we get to today, here and now, where I am happy to say that I feel so excited to be able to have something as simple and good and halal as a brand that is new to me and perhaps now new to you: Deli Halal. They offer wholesome halal meats, certified by Halal Transactions of Omaha and are quite the tasty, delicious type of deli meats that bring me straight back to the sandwich-making days of my youth.
For example, their Classic Roast Beef is exactly like how I remember the real thing should taste. Deli meats should, in my opinion, taste like meat and not salt. It was especially hard to find something like Beef Pastrami or Corned Beef made with halal meats. They also have Beef Salami and Turkey Breast, both of which are excellent in the recipes for sandwiches I’ve come up with that follows.
They’re easy to make and without any actual cooking (for the cold sandwiches), your kids can help make them, too. I prefer these as hot sandwiches, however, and they can be warmed in a skillet or a toaster oven. Versatility in recipes makes them more appealing, so that’s what I love about these.
I’ve made two different types of sandwiches, with overlapping ingredients so they’ll be used up quite rapidly and give you no reason to hang on to ingredients you won’t eventually use.
Mayonnaise and mustard (both of which I’ve provide homemade recipes for in the My Halal Kitchen cookbook, but store-bought is fine, too); fresh ginger, fresh garlic, sea salt or Himalayan pink salt, ground black pepper, chili flakes, wasabi powder and freshly grated cabbage.
For the meats I chose the Beef Pastrami and Corned Beef, as well as the Turkey Breast from Deli Halal. I also used two types of cheeses that I thought would go really well in these sandwiches, and once warmed with melted Swiss or Dill Havarti cheese, when combined with the sauces I’ve created, the taste is…just…above and beyond having an ordinary sandwich.
Well, that’s my opinion, at least. Let me show you how to make the dressings and pull it all together. One combination is- Mayo-Chili Pepper Spread with Turkey Breast and Swiss Cheese – mayonnaise, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, chili flakes (I use the Turkish varieties like Urfa biber or an Aleppo pepper are fantastic), plus sea salt or Himalayan salt, to taste. Simply combine them well and set aside until you’re ready to use. Refrigerate if it will be some time before using.
The other dressing- Mustard-Wasabi Spread with either Corned Beef or Beef Pastrami with the Dill Havarti Cheese -is super simple, too: plain mayonnaise, mustard (any kind you like), fresh ginger, fresh garlic, ground pepper, sea salt or Himalayan pink salt, and wasabi powder (a very small amount). Whip it all up with a spoon, et voila- done. Next, you can simply spread each of the spreads onto the bread of your choosing. I should be clear that I don’t mix the spreads together on one sandwich (the photo below is just me simply warming up bread for two separate sandwiches). I prefer the Mayo-Chili Pepper Spread with Turkey Breast and Swiss Cheese; and the Mustard-Wasabi Spread with either Corned Beef or Beef Pastrami with the Dill Havarti Cheese. Those are my favorite combinations, but do as you like in experimenting with what makes your taste buds happy. I put the bread of my choosing- in this case, a rustic sourdough- in a cast iron pan with a tiny bit of butter just to brown the bread. I spread the dressing on top of each piece, then add the cheese, then the meat, and the cabbage on the Beef Pastrami or Corned Beef sandwich. I love how nicely browned and toasty just a little butter makes the bread.
Then I remove the one-sided sandwiches stacked with their meat and cheese onto a plate and put the second sizes on the pan to brown them, too. You can add more butter if you like, but it’s not necessary. Turns out, these can end up being some pretty large sandwiches, if you use large pieces of bread like I did here. So I cut them in half, making them easy to eat and perfect for lunches on the go. Wrap them in parchment paper to keep them nice and crispy, then wrap in foil or a plastic sandwich bag for easy transport in lunch bags. I also like them because they’re not super messy- at all. Very important details for taking lunches on the go. If it were summer, I would easily take these on a picnic day out. Wouldn’t you?
To learn more about Deli Halal’s products and where you can find them in your area, go to their Store Locator page here, follow their Instagram page @delihalal, their Facebook page here and share your thoughts, photos and recipe creations by tagging them, tagging us (@myhalalkitchen) and using the hashtag #spreadthehalal
This post was sponsored by Deli Halal. All recipe creations, opinions and feedback about this product are my own.
Since I’ve never been to Cuba, how could I really say what a Cuban sandwich is like? It’s because I feel like I sorta traveled there by way of south Florida when I was young girl. My dad us there often and we visited a lot of great Latin restaurants, which is where I really developed my palate for diverse latin food. I often wonder if they’re still there, because they were that memorable: from Greek food in Tarpon Springs to Colombian food in Sarasota, or Cuban fare like Paella Valencia and Cuban Sandwiches in Miami and Key West at the famed El Siboney, often times at hyper local spots that were also neighborhood phenomenons like this one.
This developed my love of fine restaurant food, diversity in food, the various food cultures available to explore in the world- how blessed I am to have had that experience and develop a palette at such a young age. I think that’s why I’m sitting here writing about food and cooking this type of food today, among the other varieties of globally-inspired dishes I love so much.
So to re-create the dishes I wanted to eat halal, I started with the famed Cuban Sandwich, since it’s one that has ham and pork meat in it, and something I thought I might never be able to have again. After some research, however, I was able to figure out right spice mixture and build a sandwich that not only I love, but my family and friends love, too. We tested the recipe many times to get it just right, which is why it also ended up in my newest cookbook, My Halal Kitchen: Global Recipes, Cooking Tips, Lifestyle Inspiration.
Basically, the meat I use is boneless, skinless chicken thighs. It’s dark meat, separates easily and cooks down great. The spice mixture is like an adobo somewhat but when you begin to cook it, the real kicker is adding in some orange juice- that gives not just flavor, but added acidity to break down the meat faster as it cooks.
If you have chicken stock or broth, add that, too. That gives it a little extra chicken flavor and color to the stock. Eventually, all the liquid will boil out before you plop it into the sandwich, but the flavor will be in the meat.
The original cooking time is long, but I’ve since made it twice recently and kicked up the flame to speed it up and had this done and ready to shred within 35 minutes, so it is doable.
Once that’s done, you can pull the meat apart with a fork. Now comes the building part- as you’ll see in the recipe, get some really great bread. If you’re near a Mexican store get the bolillo bread, but make sure it is not made with manteca, or lard. If you can’t find a good source, then a hoagie bread bun will do just fine.
Each side of the bread gets mustard, cheese (I use provolone if I can’t find Swiss), pickles (I use gardener if I’m out of pickles) and some halal smoked Turkey salami or bologna that you can find at most Middle Eastern/Mediterranean and Indo-Pakistani markets.
Then, I add the shredded chicken, close up the sandwich and wrap it in foil. I place it in a panini press or over a grill or in a grill pan and push it down with something heavier. This makes it flattened, makes the cheese melt and heats up all the ingredients so well.
Even if you’ve never had an authentic Cuban sandwich, this is one I think you’re absolutely going to love- and why not, it’s totally saborosa!
You might notice that I love the combination of spinach and strawberries, but it’s because it’s a really great one. I know in a drink (like this one) it might be odd, but in a salad it could be just as odd to some people who have never tried it. Trust me, you really should try this. It may not be the best thing to take to work or school because unless you fold it or take a knife and fork to cut it (or pre-cut it) in a circular storage, you may struggle to eat in a mess-free way- sorry!
I used really simple ingredients that you can find pretty much anywhere:
They mostly came from a Trader Joe’s shopping excursion but if you have a farmers market nearby or grow your own, that would be so much nicer:
Basically, it’s just a few simple things- olive oil, lemon, salt (I used pink Himalayan salt, but you can use any that you have), black pepper, dates, whole milk feta cheese, strawberries, sunflower seeds (although any kind of nut or seed would be nice- almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, etc.). I also use Kontos brand bread because it’s certified-halal, which means there aren’t any mono or dyglicerides or dough conditioners stemming from non-halal ingredients.
Making these are pretty simple and can be doubled, tripled, etc. very quickly for a crowd. It’s a nice idea for a spring or summer brunch in that you can make this into a buffet and people can sort of create their own version if you have all the ingredients out for them to use. You can grill or heat up the bread first, if you like.
I put the spinach on the bottom, but even before that if you have a really good homemade mayonnaise, layer that on the bottom because once you add all the ingredients plus the olive oil and lemon, it’s going to be even more delicious.
Just start adding your ingredients from there, or as they say, ‘build your salad’.
And there you have it- just use a fork and knife to cut up like a pizza or simply fold it in half, and it’s pretty easy to eat.
I loved this salad so much that I’ve made even more versions of it- check back for more ideas and let me know in the comments section below if you have your own that I should try.
I had no idea what a hit these pita rolls would be. They seemed so easy to make and with such a familiar taste to them, I didn’t even think they would be very interesting to other people. When I instagrammed making these several months ago, so many people were intrigued and wanted the recipe. I totally understand why now- they’re so so easy to make and don’t take too many ingredients to put them together. For people who don’t like tabbouleh or hummus (if they exist), you don’t even really have to put them in the rolls, but they definitely taste better with the two, in my opinion.
Here’s how it goes:
Start with the best quality ingredients you can find, as with all recipes.
The same goes for olive oil and vinegar (i.e. date vinegar or apple cider vinegar). Don’t skimp on the good stuff if you can afford it. There truly is no replacement for real olive oil and the flavor you get with a dark vinegar like date vinegar is unique so if you choose to de-glaze this dish with another type of vinegar (i.e white), it will vary a bit.
You may have questions on the vinegar issue as it relates to halal, I know. So, please visit the vinegar page for what I understand and go by with regards to how I select it. I know
Get a good quality tabbouleh or make it yourself, of course! Here’s a link to my Tabbouleh recipe if you decide to spend a lot of time chopping. It’s quite therapeutic, really.
If you absolutely can’t find the boneless cubes, you can also just get their boneless skinless breast tenders and cut them up, which takes all about 2 minutes for a pound of meat.
Start with a large saute pan and add salt if you’re using a non-stick or a non-cast iron pan. This helps prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan during cooking, which often happens with skinless meats. Add just enough for the recipe to avoid over-salting.
You’re welcome.
Add the oil to pan now gently heat.
When the oil is hot (not burning), add the chicken, freshly ground pepper and any additional salt you think. Cook over medium high heat.
.
Let the chicken brown on one side then flip.
Flip again until they’re really nicely browned on all sides. You may need to stay right in front of the pan to do this, in order to avoid burning or pulling apart of any meat.
Now add the vinegar.
All at once. It will start to steam and evaporate just as soon as it hits the pan. Stay right in front of the pan to deglaze the oil and any scraps at the bottom of the pan with your spoon or spatula.
Keep doing this until all of the vinegar is ‘gone’- it’s really attaching itself to the meat.
It should look this beautiful by then, the deep dark color is due to the vinegar. Don’t worry if there’s a little oil left in the pan. That’s actually good because if you’re not eating this right away, you can store the chicken with this oil and re-heat in it so that it doesn’t dry out.
It’ll also give it a bit of a nice sheen.
This is not a greasy sandwich, but that extra oil is kind of nice if you want to add in the pita roll. We love it like that.
Those bite-size pieces are just wonderful, but you can always cut larger pieces if you prefer.
Here’s a video where I show how the same technique is done, although these chicken pieces are uncut (using boneless chicken tenders):
Now get out the hummus. This is a pre-made one, I know. That’s what makes it extra quick when you need things to be fast.
Take a heaping spoonful and spread it across the underside of one whole pita bread laid flat on a plate.
Now do one more heaping spoonful. It makes the sandwich more moist.
Next is the tabbouleh. Another ready-made version. I said I needed it done fast. But truth be told, I have at times made one thing homemade and store-bought the other. Whatever works for you.
Then, add as much chicken as you’ll like per sandwich. I like to divide the final mixture of chicken into fours so that I know I’ll have four evenly-made sandwiches.
Wanna roll? Or eat it open face? Well, you could do either one, really.
Let’s say we roll this time. Take one side of the bread and fold it completely over the ingredients lengthwise.
And, roll again.
Cut them in half, if you like, or just because you want to take photos. Everyone’s doing that these days….
I think we may find one day that there are more pictures of sandwiches and said pita rolls than there are of children in our families.
I’ve grown up making tuna fish sandwiches all my life. In fact, it was probably the first kind I ever made for myself during my latch-key kid days of the late 80’s and early 90’s. I tried to get creative back then, but there was much to be desired gastronomically during that time.
Believe me, if I was allowed to use the stove at that time, I probably would have mixed the tuna with some of Nonna’s homemade Sicilian tomato sauce and made a somewhat flavorful sandwich. Instead, mayonnaise was the sandwich sauce of my youth.
Alhamdullilah, thankfully, much has changed since then. After years of travel and an absolute obsession with eating foods natural and as unprocessed as possible, I’ve taken my tuna to new levels with the incorporation of real Mediterranean flavors and whatever else is fresh and good for us.
The recipe below is one I made recently for a neighbor and friend I hadn’t seen in nearly two years. She recently called one morning and asked to come by for a visit that afternoon. I responded with excitement, “Of course!” and hung up- not realizing I’d love to present a healthy lunch but it would have to be done quickly and give a nice presentation, too.
This simple lunch was a snap to prepare and a success at the table. Try it yourself – I think you’ll love it. Here are the ingredients:
Mediterranean Tuna Sandwiches
Makes approximately 4 healthy size sandwiches or 12 open-faced small sandwiches
1 TB homemade or a good quality(made with olive oil) mayonnaise
Preparation
Drain tuna and put in the bowl you plan to serve the salad.
Add all of the rest of the ingredients and taste. If you need to add more of anything, don’t be afraid- a little more will only extend the serving size.
Serve on your favorite bread, croissants or rolls and with a delicious sliced cheese such as provolone, mozzarella or Swiss. Even better when melted!
On one side, layer with basil leaves, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella or other cheese and the optional oregano oil.
On the other side, layer with the stack of meats: Salami, Corned Beef, Pastrami and Roast Beef. Close them up and either eat them up (as is or warm for a bit in the oven/toaster oven) OR cut the bread into generous portions where the entire loaf can feed a small crowd. 
I add toothpicks to each portion to keep it all in place.
Nice and meaty, full of flavors that are fresh and pungent and packed with healthy ingredients you can feel good about eating and serving. 
Perfect for a party, perfect for lunches. That’s what good food is all about, right? #SpreadtheHalal
Meaty Mediterranean Subs
I also used two types of cheeses that I thought would go really well in these sandwiches, and once warmed with melted Swiss or Dill Havarti cheese, when combined with the sauces I’ve created, the taste is…just…above and beyond having an ordinary sandwich.
Well, that’s my opinion, at least. 
Let me show you how to make the dressings and pull it all together. 
One combination is- Mayo-Chili Pepper Spread with Turkey Breast and Swiss Cheese – mayonnaise, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, chili flakes (I use the Turkish varieties like Urfa biber or an Aleppo pepper are fantastic), plus 
Simply combine them well and set aside until you’re ready to use. Refrigerate if it will be some time before using. 
Whip it all up with a spoon, et voila- done. 
Next, you can simply spread each of the spreads onto the bread of your choosing. I should be clear that I don’t mix the spreads together on one sandwich (the photo below is just me simply warming up bread for two separate sandwiches). 
I prefer the Mayo-Chili Pepper Spread with Turkey Breast and Swiss Cheese; and the Mustard-Wasabi Spread with either Corned Beef or Beef Pastrami with the Dill Havarti Cheese. Those are my favorite combinations, but do as you like in experimenting with what makes your taste buds happy. 
I put the bread of my choosing- in this case, a rustic sourdough- in a cast iron pan with a tiny bit of 
I love how nicely browned and toasty just a little 
Then I remove the one-sided sandwiches stacked with their meat and cheese onto a plate and put the second sizes on the pan to brown them, too. You can add more 
Turns out, these can end up being some pretty large sandwiches, if you use large pieces of bread like I did here. 
So I cut them in half, making them easy to eat and perfect for lunches on the go. 
Wrap them in parchment paper to keep them nice and crispy, then wrap in foil or a plastic sandwich bag for easy transport in lunch bags. 
I also like them because they’re not super messy- at all. Very important details for taking lunches on the go. 
If it were summer, I would easily take these on a picnic day out.
Wouldn’t you?
