Cucumber and Jicama Vegan Tea Sandwiches
Put on the kettle, get out some nice china, and let’s make the best of a long COVID-winter with vegan tea sandwiches! Tea with friends might be off the table, but doing something a little nice alone or with your family can help to brighten up winter. So go get yourself a tub of vegan cream cheese (you could even try making your own) and get out the mandolin or your sharpest knife- it’s time for tea sandwiches! Crisp, light, creamy, refreshing, and fresh, these delightful grown up vegan cucumber sandwiches are the perfect way to add a little elegance to your afternoon.
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Making the Cucumber Sandwich Grow Up
I ate a lot of cucumber sandwiches growing up- I’m not sure how I was first introduced to them, but once I started eating them it was love. The creaminess of the cream cheese, plus the refreshing cucumber is just a match made in heaven! The ones I had weren’t quite traditional- for one, we pretty much only ever had whole wheat bread around the house (not white like is normally used), and secondly cutting off crusts was just not allowed. Amusingly, it wasn’t until a few years ago I realized that the crusts of bread weren’t any healthier than the rest of the bread. Because other kids tried to get rid of them, and my mother insisted we ate ours, I had just made an implicit assumption that they must be good for me. But you know, bread is just bread. Anyways, whenever there was cream cheese in the house, I’d make myself a cucumber tea sandwich.
And as I’ve grown up over the years, my taste buds have as well. So I decided to give this sandwich a little upgrade. Firstly, I switched the bread for a light rye, to add that bit of caraway flavor. I just substituted the cream cheese for a vegan version- I used the Tofutti brand, which is quite good, and very affordable. I also added another vegetable to the mix- jicama, a slightly sweet, starchy, crunchy vegetable that comes to us from Mexico. It adds a little sweetness, along with a crunch. To top it all off, a sprinkle of dried mint adds a cooling freshness. And voila- grown up cucumber sandwich! It still has all the essence of a cucumber tea sandwich, but so much more.
Looking for More Grown-Up Classics? Try one of these!
- Tomato Rhubarb Soup- Savory Vegan Rhubarb Recipe
- Thanks USPS! Spicy Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Pizza with Kale
- Vegan Oat Pancakes with Peaches (GF)
- Heirloom Tomato Summer Watermelon Salad
- Spicy Vegan Cold Noodles, Sichuan Style
- Golden Milk Turmeric Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Making Vegan Tea Sandwiches
I gave very precise instructions for this recipe, but it’s not rocket science- just stick some cream cheese, jicama, and cucumber on bread and you’ve done it. But if you’re looking for the more finessed version, I found a mandolin very helpful for this recipe. It allows you to get very thin, and very even layers of the cucumber and jicama. Put a layer of cream cheese on both pieces of bread, and then a layer of the cucumber on one piece and a layer of the jicama on the other. Season with salt and pepper, and a generous pinch of dried mint. Because tea sandwiches are cut small, it’s extra important that they hold together. To make that happen, use a very small amount of more vegan cream cheese, and make little blots on the jicama. When you gently press the two pieces of the sandwich together, this should help to make sure they stick together. Now cut of the crusts, make them into cute little triangles, and enjoy!
Cucumber and Jicama Vegan Tea Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 10 slices of light rye bread
- ½ large a cucumber
- ½ jicama
- 4 oz. vegan cream cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Dried mint
Instructions
- Peel the cucumber and the jicama. Use a sharp knife or a mandolin to cut the cucumbers into rounds, about 1.5mm thick. Cut the jicama into similarly thin slices, and then cut the slices into strips, about the same width as the circumference of the cucumber slices.
- Spread a fairly thin layer of cream cheese on two pieces of bread. On one half, cover with even rows of cucumber. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt and a crack of fresh pepper, as well as a light sprinkle of the dried mint. On the other half add a layer of the jicama strips. Dab a small amount of cream cheese on the jicama (just a little to help hold the sandwich together). Gently press the two slices of bread together. Cut off the crusts and make the sandwich into a square, and then cut the square into four triangles. Depending on the size of your bread, you may want to cut those in half to make 8 smaller triangles. Repeat with the remaining bread. Store covered in the fridge until serving.
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