Shirtless Chef is Making Subs That Won’t Sink Your Battleship!

Local fitness enthusiast Jason Murphy remakes favorite meals of his youth into healthy dishes. See the full list of his recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.

Back in my heavy days, I thought the only lunch option available to me was a sandwich loaded with all sorts of bad news. I would go all out and make some pretty major Dagwood type sandwiches, and my ever expanding waistline bore the brunt of that, especially with about a half bag of Sunchips and a Diet Coke thrown in for good measure. That’s a lunch loaded with preservatives, simple carbs, and very questionable ingredients that my body could only deduce to turn into belly fat. Sometimes, I would make elaborate baked hoagies and BBQ meatball subs were always a favorite. Of course, they were made with sugar laden BBQ sauces, white bread hoagie buns full of soybean oil and sugar, and questionable cheeses with fake color. Eventually, as I changed my eating habits, I learned to make healthy versions of all my favorite sandwiches. It transformed my lunch nutrition and was a key factor to change myself from the 2014 version to 2021:

My new BBQ meatball sandwich uses fathead pizza dough for the hoagie, and although I have made my own bbq sauce in the past, I’ve found a great version in store that checks all the boxes to save me some time. Yes, making healthy versions of my old favorites takes more time than the originals, or (gasp) getting a Subway version of mystery meat, and yes, it is totally worth it. This sandwich is so good, my anticipated seconds the next day disappeared in the middle of the night thanks to my son eating two of them in one sitting. The funny thing is these are not low calorie sandwiches, and they are very filling. Still, with the clean ingredients, your body will actually be able to use this as fuel and not just shrug and make your pants a little tighter than the day before. Pair this with my homemade Ranch dressing to dip this in and you will never even think about how healthy you are eating. I also forgo the Sunchips and potato fries for my Jicama fries to save even more on the simple carbs. Your efforts will be rewarded if you go to the trouble of making this version, and your pants will thank you.

FatHead Dough BBQ Meatball Sub:

Meatballs:

1 lb ground turkey (Not fat free ground turkey breast)

1/2 yellow onion finely diced

1/2 tsp sea salt, black pepper, oregano, thyme, chives, parsley, onion and garlic powder

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

Fat Head Dough:

170 (1 3/4 cups) grams shredded grass fed Mozzarella

85 grams (3/4 cup) almond flour

2 tbsp grass fed cream cheese

1 chicken egg at room temp

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp oregano, parsley, basil, rosemary

BBQ Sauce:

Primal Noble Made brand Smokey BBQ sauce (or make your own homemade low carb version)

Instructions:

Place all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix well. I like to use plastic gloves sprayed with non-stick so I don’t end up with half the meat stuck to my fingers:

Weigh out your meatballs in .7 to .8 ounces, and roll until loosely packed and smooth. Place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick:

Bake at 400 degrees for 17 – 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and using two spoons, flip the meatballs over. Then bake for another 10 minutes:

Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and then sear the meatballs for a few minutes until brown and crispy on all sides. Reduce heat and cover with about a cup of BBQ sauce. Turn down the heat to low and simmer:

To make the FatHead Dough, combine the cheese, almond flour, and cream cheese in a bowl.

Microwave for 1 minute, stir to combine, nuke again for 30 seconds, and stir once more. Add your seasonings and then the egg. I like to glove up for this as well. Work the egg into the dough until it is completely absorbed. Spray two large sheets of parchment paper with a LOT of nonstick, then roll the dough out into a thin sheet, around 1/4 of an inch. Cut into 4 pieces, and promptly move them to a baking sheet lined with sprayed parchment paper. Dot the dough with BBQ sauce:Add as many meatballs that will fit. I usually get 5 or 6. Then wrap them up canoe style and pinch the ends to seal. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees: