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.
- 2 pieces sliced bread of your liking, such as natural sourdough or large Tuscan style bread
- 4 tablespoons Mayo-Chili Pepper Spread
- 2 large pieces sliced Swiss cheese
- 2-4 pieces Deli Halal Turkey Breast meat
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, crushed and minced
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes such as Aleppo pepper or Urfa biber
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 pieces sliced bread of your liking, such as natural sourdough or large Tuscan style bread
- 4 tablespoons Mustard-Wasabi Spread
- 2 large pieces sliced Dill Havarti cheese or plain Havarti cheese
- 2-4 pieces Deli Halal Corned Beef or Beef Pastrami meat slices
- 1 cup shredded green cabbage
- 2 tablespoons plain or medium spice mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, crushed and minced
- 1/8 teaspoon wasabi powder
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Mix all of the dressing ingredients (make each spread separately) together in a bowl and set aside.
- Using a cast iron pan or grill top, add a dollop of butter and warm it gently. Keep the heat on very low.
- Generously cover the bread with the spread and place the undressed side face-down on the pan. Add the cheese and meat and the cabbage (for the Beef sandwiches) and let the bread brown and the cheese melt, about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the open sandwiches from the pan and place on a plate. Generously dress the top slice of bread and place it plain-side down on the pan, warming it also for about 3 minutes. Return to the sandwich and either enjoy it whole or cut in half.
- If you would like the cheese to be melted a little further, place it in the microwave for about 20 seconds, or wrap in fold and place back in the pan with something heavy on top for about one minute.
