Not You’re Ordinary Veggie Sandwich…According To Hubby

Another successful lunch for hubby’s mini-vacation.

Today I fixed a veggie sandwich filled with some of our favorite flavors/veggies. I also pulled out one of hubby’s kitchen ‘toys’, his panini maker (yes, he has kitchen ‘toys’ too cause he loves cooking some things too).

Today I used my stovetop grill pan (everyone should have one of these cause they are fabulous for veggies as well as meats). I used it to grill the mushrooms, asparagus and red bell pepper. Which if you read my blog yesterday, it’s basically the same thing I did for the asparagus (except I sprinkled garlic powder and Morton’s Natural seasoning on the mushrooms when they were done).

Now hubby says I need to come up with a great name for it cause Veggie Sandwich just doesn’t cut it. He claims this sandwich wasn’t just good but “very satisfying in a comfort food sort of way”…his words…*g*

8 thick sliced (crust removed if preferred) whole wheat seeded rustic bread
spicy brown mustard
4 portabella mushrooms sliced and grilled
20 spears asparagus grilled
1 large red bell pepper cut in big chunks and grilled
4 tbsp. tapenade from a jar (green olive & tomato flavor)
4 sliced Danish Swiss cheese

Turn on you panini maker so it can start warming.

Put mustard on each slice of bread to taste. On 4 of the slices start layering the items listed then top with other bread and grill it until heated through and smooshed down enough to fit in your mouth…*G*.

I really enjoyed this but like I said these ingredients are some of our favorite ingredients so how could I go wrong…*G*

Dressing Up A Turkey Sandwich

Hubby and I met for lunch last week. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed a couple of sandwiches too. When I was looking over the menu, I noticed that they had several common sandwiches with unique twists. Of course, I don’t go into town for lunch enough to try all the things on the menu (plus we usually don’t go to the same place twice). So I got to thinking about how I could fix up my plain sandwich fixin’s (especially since hubby is taking a long weekend now and a few next month too).

I wanted interesting sandwiches but I have to watch the fat grams. This sandwich is one that’s not too bad and since I don’t eat sandwiches normally it will be great for special lunches (like when hubby is home…*G*).

4 slices whole wheat bread
honey mustard
4 slices smoked turkey (from the deli)
2 tsp. Ocean Spray Cran-Fruit Crushed fruit for Chicken Cranberry Orange flavor
10 grilled asparagus spears **method follows
4 slices Danish Swiss cheese (I don’t have it often so I splurge for flavor)

Toast bread and let cool. Turn on broiler. Spread all four pieces of bread with honey mustard (to taste). Divide turkey between two pieces of bread, spread each with a teaspoon of cranberry spread, lay 5 asparagus spears on top of each sandwich then top with cheese.

Place open faced sandwiches on a foil covered pan and place under broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly (DON’T TURN AWAY CAUSE IT TAKES LESS THAN A MINUTE). Take the sandwich halves out and top with remaining piece of bread. Slice each in half (slice in the direction that will cut the asparagus in half cause then it will stay together better and you will have asparagus in each bite…*g*).

**Grilled Asparagus is so easy you could fix it while making the toast and afterwards when you are waiting for it to cool.

Rinse off the asparagus and dry. Bend one in two until it snaps. Use this as guide for cutting the rest of the asparagus (discard bottoms unless you are saving them to make asparagus soup or something).

Spray fry/sauté pan (I have a Misto that I fill with extra virgin olive oil but you can us any spray oil) and heat to meduim. Put asparagus in pan and let it cook until tender crisp (will brown a bit but keep moving to keep from burning). When done, salt & pepper to taste. This just takes a few minutes total.

This was really good and I'll probable be making it again (after Thanksgiving...*G*)