Spicy Balsamic Grilled Veggie Panini

Oops! I'm falling a few days behind... Another meatless Monday in our home this week - which didn't turn out the greatest. I was so excited about this meal, but to my dismay it was a bit of a challenge for my patience. So, luckily Q stepped in and helped me with the construction of the sammies as I had zero patience for it. I let the veggies marinade for about an hour or so just so they had plenty of time for the flavors to get to know each other a bit. They were so tangy, sweet and delicious. I used a cast iron grill versus an outdoor grill and I'd say it worked just fine (minus the smokiness it makes in the house). Once the panini was constructed (by Q, as I take zero credit in that), we placed them on a George Foreman grill (it works great and we don't have to buy a different kitchen gadget). Well, everything slid off and went all over the place on the first try - grr!. Q was determined to get it about as close to perfect as possible so we could eat them. The 2nd one was better but still an incredible mess to eat.

Spicy Balsamic Veggie Panini

I did save all the veggies (kept tomatoes in the vinegar and stored separately) and let them sit in fridge overnight. The next day I decided to give the panini one more try and this time placed a toothpick in the center, cut the bread smaller and put less toppings and it came out so much better and man was it tasty. Since I still had so many veggies leftover I boiled some rigatoni pasta noodles, drained em and mixed them in a large bowl with the leftover veggies. I mixed in some crumbled feta and boy oh boy was it good. So I had 2 more lunches out of this meal, I'd say it was worth it!!! I WIN!!! The recipe below is enough to make 4-6 big panini sandwiches.

Pasta with the leftovers

ingredients

• 1/2 cup EVOO

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

• kosher salt & freshly cracked black pepper

• 1 medium yellow squash, sliced

• 1 medium squash, sliced

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1" chunks

• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped into 1" chunks

• 16 oz sliced white mushrooms (buy them whole and slice them yourself)

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter

• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced

• 1/4 cup olive oil mayo with black pepper

• 1/4 cup hot pepper jelly

• 1 large french bread

• 12 slices pepper jack cheese

directions

1. Whisk the olive oil and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar in a large glass bowl. Add some salt & pepper to taste, whisk. Add squash, zucchini and peppers to the bowl and toss. Set aside.

2. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tbsp butter, once melted add shrooms and vinegar. Cook, tossing occasionally until golden brown, about 8 minutes give or take. Turn off heat and set aside.

3. Heat a grill pan or grill over medium high heat and grill the veggies on both sides until golden and tender. While these veggies are cooking slice the tomatoes and place them in the bowl with the leftover marinade. Toss to coat and set aside.

4. Make the spread by combining the mayo and pepper jelly, set aside. 

5 Preheat the Foreman grill and assemble the sandwiches. First the spread on each piece of bread, then the cheese, zucchini, shrooms, peppers, tomatoes then the squash. Grill until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted. 

If you don't want to grill the veggies you can also roast them at 400º in the oven. 

So even though the meal wasn't a real winner off the bat it ended up being fantastic in the end. I don't really blame the recipe, just that I was trying to cram too much into one sammie, most likely. Anyway I probably wouldn't make the Panini again, but I would use the recipe to make a pasta salad in the future, so it was a home run flavor wise.

Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from Pioneer Woman.