Avocado Spinach Panini

The couple of people who actually check out this blog might be wondering why I do it. Basically, I'm the heaviest I have ever been and the only way to get the weight off is to eat right. And to eat right I have to completely change my approach to food. That involves serious motivation and I've found that I stick to it better if I document it here. Lately I've had great success drinking green smoothies (try incrediblesmoothies.com for great smoothie ideas) for lunch and breakfast and having a vegetarian meal at night. I was a vegetarian many moons ago but since I didn't enjoy many vegetables it was a sad existence. I'm enjoying it much more this time around.

This recipe was adapted from a Vegetarian Times recipe.

1 flat bread cut into sandwich sizes
1 avocado, sliced
red onion slices (about 1/2 a small onion)
raw spinach leaves (I used about 1 loosely packed cup for 2 sandwiches)
California Sun Dry Sun-Dried Tomato Spread (or julienne sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil)

Cut open the flat bread (or bread of your choice) and spread the tomato spread on both pieces. Layer the rest of the ingredients.

Use a panini press or cook them in a skillet the way you would a grilled cheese. You want it really flattened out though. I struggles with this because half the time the ingredients ooze out more than I'd like but I think the bread has been too thick for my cheap panini maker!  It still tasted great. I love the crunch of the bread with the creamy avocado.  And the sun-dried tomatoes give it zing.  The onions were perfect and I couldn't even taste the spinach. I added bacon to the sandwich for the non-vegetarian eater in the house.

Steak House Panini

My first foray back into cooking new things (after a brief reprieve) was from Clean Eating. A steak house panini with flank steak and sweet potatoes. Sadly, this didn't appeal to me as much as I thought it would. I love all of the ingredients involved, but somehow they didn't meld to my liking.  The potatoes were too sweet for this, in my opinion. And I couldn't taste the cheese at all. I did alter the recipe slightly so I will post what I used. You can google steak house panini and find the original recipe.

Flank steak (will use about 8 oz)
olive oil
1/4 cup butter milk
2 cups baby spinach
1 tablespoon crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
salt and pepper
1/2 - 1 teaspoon paprika
2 sweet potatoes
whole wheat tortillas

Pre-heat oven to 425.

I peeled and quartered the potatoes, cut them into strips, coated them in olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Then I baked them until done, about 20 minutes.

While they were cooking I made the sauce. Using a blender I blended the spinach, Gorgonzola and "buttermilk." Lacking buttermilk I added 1 tablespoon lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it set for 5 minutes.  Blend until smooth. It's such a vibrant green, but all I could taste was the spinach.

Remove potatoes and set aside to cool.  Position an oven rack to just under the broiler and preheat oven to broil.

Season steak with paprika and salt and broil 5-7 minutes on each side.  Remove, let rest for a few minutes and slice thin against the grain.

Assemble the paninis and grill on a panini press or use a sauté pan to "grill."

While very pretty this just didn't hit the mark. The meat was wonderful though and we had enough left over for something different. I'll have to try this again with regular potatoes and an increased amount of cheese.

Grilled Apple Bacon Cheese with Roasted Red Onion Mayo

Grilled Apple Bacon Cheese with Roasted Red Onion Mayo

This is a Paula Deen recipe that was too good for such a simple sandwich. It's the roasted red onion mayonnaise that does it.

Ingredients

Roasted Red Onion Mayo:

• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise

Set oven to 375. On a rimmed baking sheet, place the chopped onions, olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast 20-25 minutes. Once done, let them cool. Add onions and mayonnaise to a food processor and chop until finely chopped. 

Sandwich (for one, double or triple as needed):

• 2 slices (1/2-inch-thick) sourdough, multigrain or another hearty bread (I used an Artisan Asiago Cheese Bread)
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked crisp
• 4 slices Cheddar
• 1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored, sliced thin (a mandoline helps)
• Roasted Red Onion Mayo

I only needed 2 slices of cheese per sandwich.  Assemble the sandwiches: mayo on top and bottom slices of bread. Cheese, apple, bacon and cheese. Once the cheese melts it helps keep everything sealed in.  The recipe says to grill on a pan on the oven but I used a panini press.  Therefore, I skipped the butter the bread stage. 

This was so delicious.  The mayo really does make it great.  I will make this again and again. 

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