Roasted Vegetable and Pesto Sandwich

I was doing a little blog hopping when I came across a post for a roasted vegetable and pesto sandwich. I just happened to have all of the ingredients, so I decided to give it a go. WOW! What great flavor and it is wonderfully nutritious as well. Can't beat that! Here is what the finished product looked like... Since I didn't want to fire up the grill, I decided to pan roast the veges on my trusty vintage cast iron griddle. It is so well seasoned that I don't have to use much olive oil. I did use my mandoline to slice the zucchini the long way, and to make the other vegetables (red pepper, portobello mushroom and onion) uniformly sliced.

I forgot the onion, and had to "roast" it separately. I was going for caramelized sweet onion. It turned out really nicely.

I put about a level tablespoon of pesto on each side of a 100 calorie Oroweat sandwich thins.

I bought the pesto at Costco...don't have much basil in the garden this time of year.

I put the pan roasted veges on the sandwich thins...

Next, I put a few small, fresh mozzarella balls on the sandwich (microwaved for 15 seconds to get them to melt a bit). I'm not kidding, the first bite was heavenly :) . I mean, look at this baby!

This is my new favorite lunch item! And Weight Watcher friendly, too!

Hungry yet?

Sliced Tomato Sandwich on Croissant with Balsamic Drizzle

This is officially my favorite summer food right now! I had this sandwich for lunch yesterday, and again for lunch today. Delicious! It is a Tomato Sandwich on Croissant with Balsamic Drizzle. Begin with a croissant. I got a flat of them at Costco. You can find them in the larger grocery stores. Slice it lengthwise, in half. Find some ripe, ready to eat tomatoes, either from your garden or farmers market (or in my case, Costco!)

Slice the tomatoes. I like the slices on the thick side. Layer them on the bottom half of the croissant.

Crack some fresh pepper and salt on the tomatoes, to taste.

Drizzle some balsamic reduction on the tomatoes. I am addicted to this stuff. Low calories and totally delish! I bought mine at Whole Foods. I might start carrying it on my blog for those of you who can't find it in stores. It is perfect on salads instead of heavy dressing.

Yummmmmy! See how fantastic that looks?

There you have it! Enjoy all of those tomatoes this summer. And if you have extra from your garden, share this recipe and a few tomatoes with your neighbor or friend. They'll love you for it!

Thai Tuna Wraps

This is such a great recipe! My understanding is that this is a recipe from Pampered Chef. I got it from a friend, who got it from a friend! I have altered the recipe to decrease some of the mayo.

Thai Tuna Wraps

2 TBSP Lime Juice
1/2 c. mayonnaise or miracle whip ( I use less)
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP sugar
3 c. cabbage, chopped (or use a bagged coleslaw)
1 medium carrot, shredded
3 green onions, sliced
1 can tuna, drained and flaked
flour tortillas

Mix the first 4 ingredients with wisk. Add the flaked tuna, and mix with the cabbage, carrots and green onions. I didn't have a carrot or the green onions, but I am undeterred by missing ingredients. It tasted great!

You can used spinach tortillas, or another specialty tortilla. This can be served without the tortilla, too!

Turkey Zucchini Cheeseburgers

This recipe came from February 2009 Family Circle magazine. It looked like a good recipe to try, and my intuition was right! These were really good! We started eating before I could get a picture, but I had 2 patties left, so at least I have something to show.

Turkey Cheeseburgers

1 1/4 lb. ground turkey
1 medium sized zucchini, grated (about 1 cup)
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp black pepper

whole wheat or multigrain rolls
lettuce leaves
sliced tomato

Mix ingredients well. You can pan fry these, broil them, or cook them on the grill. Serve on whole wheat rolls with sliced tomato and lettuce. We put some thin slices of monterey jack cheese on ours while the burger was still hot.

Sprout Burgers

This is a yummy recipe, which you will want to make all of the time! So, you'll need to have sprouts on hand from the health food store, or start sprouting your own.

First, you need to begin with 3 cups of sprouts. Use sturdy sprouts such as lentils, adzuki, mung, sunflower, garbanzo, etc. If you have alfalfa or broccoli sprouts, save those for garnishing the sandwich.

Assemble your ingredients:

3 c. sprouts
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 c. milk
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flour, eggs, and milk in a bowl. I just now noticed that I forgot one egg and my "batter" was a little thick...it still turned out just fine.

After measuring the sprouts, chop them using a chopping knife or put them into a food processor. You don't want a puree, but rather a fine chopped product.

Mix the sprouts into the batter until the ingredients are well blended.

Drop large spoonfuls onto a heated griddle. I put a little olive oil on first, then heat it up. Cook on each side until browned.

I like to serve these on buns with mayonnaise, tomato slices and broccoli sprouts. Today I toasted up some honey bran whole wheat bread that I baked yesterday. I got the recipe at Foodie Farm Girl; It made for a great Sunday evening meal.

Sprout Burgers
adapted from sprout people

3 c. sprouts
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 c. milk
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Mix flour, eggs and milk in a medium-large bowl until ingredients incorporated. Chop sprouts (or use food processor and pulse until medium chop consistency), green onions and mince garlic cloves. Mix all ingredients together. Spoon "batter" onto hot, oiled griddle or frying pan. Fry on each side until golden brown. Serve on bun, garnish with tomato and broccoli or alfalfa sprouts.

Chicken Salad Sandwich * Food Storage Friday

My friends all know that I am dedicated when it comes to food storage. So, I've decided to devote Friday to food storage posts. You might find them on another day of the week, but Fridays will always have a food storage post. To get us started, here is one of my favorites, chicken salad.

Ingredients:

12.5 oz can chicken
1 c. cashews
1 c. grapes, cut in half
1/2 tsp. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (in foil package)
1/2 - 1 c. mayo or miracle whip
broccoli sprouts


Drain the water from the can of chicken, put in a bowl and mush up a bit with a fork. Add the mayo, grapes, dressing powder and cashews and gently stir around until mixed in. If you are making this for later, add the cashews before serving. (note: I got the HV ranch hint from my friend, Susan S.)

This is really delicious on whole wheat bread with broccoli sprouts as shown below. It is equally as yummy on a croissant or on a bed of lettuce.
Yep, I ate this very sandwich for lunch and yes, it was good. I had it with a glass of limeade with a bit of blueberry Naked Juice stirred in.


If you try this recipe, and decide that it is a keeper, put the ingredients into your food storage. For example, if you will make this recipe once a month, you will need 3 times the recipe for your 3 month storage:

3 cans of chicken, 1 1/2 to 3 c. mayo or miracle whip, 3 cups of cashews, broccoli seeds for sprouting, 1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing in the foil package. You can't store fresh grapes, but in a pinch, this could be served without the grapes, maybe substitute apple or celery.
If you are into sprouting your own sprouts, make sure that you get seeds for this purpose. Visit www.sproutshop.net  for great sprouting seed, microgreens kits and sprouters.