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I make a vegetable sandwich which I find very good. It has tomato, red onion, avocado, and cucumber. However, it lacks spiciness. I want to avoid spreads and use a vegetable for mild heat.

I tried an anaheim pepper. It has some kick but the texture does not work. It slides out. With the cucumber I cut them the length of the sandwich so they have structure.

Is there something with texture of cucumber but the spice of mild pepper?

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  • Hello Paparazzi, and welcome! I must admit that I was certain I would have to close your question right until I read the last sentence. The problem: too many people come and ask "what would be a tasty addition that goes well with my food" or "which is also healthy" and we have to close these as we cannot guess which answer will work for the OP's preferences and health beliefs. Your question read like those, but it ended with well-described, answerable criteria. So I edited it quite a bit, so it won't invoke bad associations in regulars, or even get close votes from those who miss the end.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 19:54
  • Are you also trying to avoid making your own pepper spreads? It's not terribly difficult to puree peppers.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 20:34
  • Are you looking specifically for capsaicin spice? If not, something like shaved horseradish might work.
    – SourDoh
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 20:37
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    I'm going to assume that your original question and clarification to me (no spreads) still stands, and remove any answers which don't meet that. (Catija's right, "what are some good spicy low-fat spreads?" would be way too broad, and I don't want your question to get closed.)
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 16:13
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    @Paparazzi The main reason we're pointing this out is that you appeared to have encouraged someone to post an answer about a spread in comments. We can handle deletion of non-answers, but we want to make sure the question itself is clear.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 16:38

6 Answers 6

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My home pickled beans get spicy because there's a dried red pepper or two in the jar, along with a dill head and some garlic cloves. The beans are very nice in a sandwich. But you could pickle-and-spice anything at all and use it to jazz up the sandwich. The texture is that of a soft vegetable.

Also, look into mustard greens and their relatives. They look like lettuce or kale, but taste distinctly spicy. The texture is more lettuce-y than cucumber or slices of pepper, but it wouldn't be out of place on a sandwich.

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    I like the mustard green idea as it would be a binding type thing. I will try it out and report back.
    – paparazzo
    Commented May 8, 2016 at 23:53
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    Isn't the spice of mustard greens more like that of horseradish rather than chili peppers?
    – Era
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 17:05
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For this specific requirement I eat sliced cherry peppers in my sandwiches. While they are not the length that you could cut cucumbers, I have little problem keeping them in the sandwich. I have about as much trouble keeping tomatoes in the sandwich, and I rarely have to replace them.

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  • The tomatoes are still a hold problem. Tying to get it down to just one slippery item.
    – paparazzo
    Commented May 8, 2016 at 11:05
  • depending what you use for condiments, you could layer the tomatoes and peppers against the bread. I use copious mayonnaise. That will hold these smaller items. In place of sliced cherry peppers, you could also use hot sub pepper relish. Same heat, plus it melds nicely with the mayo.
    – Jason P Sallinger
    Commented May 8, 2016 at 21:18
  • Was edited out of my original post but mayo is out. Going for low fat and I don't even like mayonnaise. But thanks
    – paparazzo
    Commented May 8, 2016 at 21:45
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Deseeding the pepper thoroughly and slicing it into millimeter thick rings should make it stay put. You could sprinkle the rings on like a green herb.

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Watercress, sorrel, nasturtium leaves (or Nasturtium flowers, but the leaves will work better in a sandwich.) All are spicy, but it's not "hot pepper flavor."

You could pickle some peppery (spiced up) cucumber slices - slice them and marinate with hot peppers in the refrigerator (assuming you don't want to go to the bother of canning them, "refrigerator pickles" are an easier approach.)

Non-prefabricated pepper spread could be as easy as mashing a pepper, perhaps with a little oil, to get a "spreadable" consistency.

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One way to make your sandwich spicy would be kimchi, or if you have the time, you can make your own spicy pickled cabbage in your refrigerator, as explained in this recipe for hasperat.

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    Oh, you have a vegetable answer tacked on at the end, my bad. I can just delete the part that's a non-answer. (The OP said no spreads.)
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 16:37
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You can try some thinly sliced horseradish. It'll have a nice kick and slight crunch.

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