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Lunch

Tournament turkey sub

Between games at a tournament. Built for a sideline and a cooler, not a table.

Servings
1
Total
6 min
Skill
Easy

Steps

  1. 1

    Cheese against both faces of the bread

    A slice of cheddar on the bottom slice and, if you have it, a second on the top. Cheese is the waterproof layer. Lettuce and turkey against bare bread is how a sub becomes wet paper by the second game.

  2. 2

    Turkey folded, not laid flat

    3 oz of deli turkey folded into loose ruffles rather than pressed in flat sheets. Folded meat gives the sandwich height and structure so it can be eaten one-handed standing up.

  3. 3

    Lettuce in the middle of the stack

    Half a cup of romaine between the turkey layers, never touching the bread. Same rule as the wrap, and the same reason.

  4. 4

    Wrap it tight in foil, then chill it hard

    Roll it in foil and twist the ends. A tightly wrapped sub holds its shape in a bag; a loose one arrives as components. Into the cooler with two ice packs, one under and one on top.

Coach's notes

  • Deli turkey is perishable. USDA guidance is at or below 40F, and a Florida sideline cooler needs real ice packs, not one thin gel sheet.
  • Cut it in half before wrapping. Half a sub between games digests better than a whole one, and the second half is there for later.
  • Whole-grain bread holds up structurally far better than soft white, quite apart from the fibre.
  • Lower-sodium deli turkey is worth hunting for. A tournament day already carries a lot of salt from everything else in the cooler.