Salad and a sandwich is a very popular lunch combo so it only made sense to mesh the two of them together into one meal. My family sent me home with a ton of leftovers from my visit and there was a kaiser roll that was beginning to harden. It was too tough to make an ordinary sandwich, but lent itself perfectly to creating a crouton. After making my apples and honey panini yesterday, I remembered how much fun it is to use my panini grill! A light layer of butter and garlic powder on top of the bun mirrored a traditional crunchy crouton once pressed.
You can create this a number of ways based on the ingredients in your fridge and what flavors you prefer. I personally love goat cheese over a salad, and find turkey to be a great way to add lean protein, but feel free to get creative! Love yourself a good cobb? Grill a panini with chicken, bacon, avocado and roquefort cheese to top off your chopped greens, tomatoes and hard boiled eggs.
The hint of pesto is just enough to enhance each forkful, and the contrast of the warm, rich cheese is perfectly balanced by the refreshing, cool peppers, tomatoes and light dressing. Chopping the salad makes it much easier to eat all the components together, especially when paired with the bite-sized sandwich cubes. Delish!
Ingredients:
1 Kaiser roll (or any hard bread or rolls you have on hand)
About 2 oz. turkey
1 oz. goat cheese
1 tablespoon pesto
Romaine and radicchio
Cherry tomatoes
Orange and yellow peppers
Balsamic or herb dressing of choice
Ingredients:
Place salad ingredients on your cutting board and chop into small pieces.
Transfer to a plate and top with dressing. I used Herbs de Provence which was light and worked well with the croutons.
Cut roll in half and spread pesto on one side.
Top with turkey and goat cheese.
Cover with other half of the roll and spread a small amount of butter on top. Sprinkle with garlic powder to taste.
Spray your panini grill with cooking spray and place sandwich down. Mine slipped away when initially closing the top so you may want to hold it in place with a utensil so you can press it properly!
Once sandwich is flat and crisp, move it to your cutting board and slice into cubes. The grill lines are a great guide for slicing.
Top salad with croutons and serve.
Eat and enjoy….then go clean your panini grill!
2 Comments
What a fun idea!
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