Banh Mi

Banh Mi is a flavorful and texture full Vietnamese styled sandwich that is usually served on a baguette and with pâté, two things that I felt I had to change to make it healthier for the lunch box. So I skipped the pâté (and other substitutes) altogether and replaced the baguette with a sandwich thin. A whole wheat hot dog bun would work nicely too. I used this recipe from Food Network's site by Anthony Nguyen as inspiration and actually used his exact slaw recipe.

The daicon, which is in the slaw, is high in vitamin C and folacin. It is yet another cancer protecting food. The texture and ever so slight bite it adds to this sandwich is perfect.

Banh Mi

for the slaw

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 cup juliened carrot
• 1/2 cup juliened daicon
• a pinch of salt

for the meat

• about 6 ounces pork (I used leftover pork roast, leftover shredded pork will work)
• chicken, a couple of sandwich meat slices (or leftover chicken will work)
• a sprinkle of Chinese 5 spice (if using shredded meat, this can be stirred in)

for the sandwich

• sandwich thins
• Mayonaise
• English cucumber, 1/4, juliened
• a couple of sprigs of cilantro

Directions:

Make the slaw: (this can be done the night before and stored in the refridgerator) In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and vinegar and bring to a boil. Transfer the vinegar mixture to a bowl and cool. Add the carrot and daikon, mix well, and season with salt. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

To assemble the sandwich, add mayonaise to sandwich thin, then add pork and then chicken. Top with slaw and then add cucumber and cilantro.