Plethora of Panini: Polish Panini

The original idea that we started out with was to do a 'meat'ball
sub. I wanted to make some seitan balls and it sounded good, but
then I realized we had nothing to make a red sauce.

I still made some seitan, but more in the shape of large patties.
I wanted to see if by adding beets you could get a different color
than the usual broth color of seitan.

I blended about a 1/2 cup of cooked beets, a can of soybeans, some
polish herbs/seasonings (or even just some sausag'y seasonings like
sage or rosemary), some vegetable bouillon, a few tablespoons of oil,
diced raw carrots, a few cloves of garlic (minced), sea salt and
lots of black pepper.

Then I added the wheat gluten, just enough to form a firm ball,
which I split up and steamed for over an hour. We sliced the patties
in to thirds and grilled to finish the cooking process. No, the color
didn't hold. It still ended up the usual light brown color.

To round out the paninis we added some dill pickles and sauteed
shredded cabbage and onion cooked with cumin seeds. But you can use
sauerkraut. I had to add veganaise for good measure and we were
happy campers.

Paninis are pretty easy goes or anything goes, really. It mainly
just knowing what theme you want to go with, pair spices and herbs,
having a good sauce/dressing, cooking the wetter vegetables before-
hand, and getting the hang of your own grilling technique.

I'm done with paninis for now, hankering for a burrito or some tacos.
I always said I could live on bread, but now I'm second guessing that.
Hope you enjoyed the ride!

Plethora of Panini: Vinegar on the High Street

Last night the paninis took an Italian twist. Usually adding
balsamic vinegar as the main flavor punch has me a bit worried
because it tends to make paninis very soggy. But I found a way to
keep the splashing to a minimum.



First saute the your desired veggies-- I did some peppers, onions,
garlic cloves in some Italian seasonings and light olive oil.
Then separately grilled slices of eggplant that I had salted and
rinsed to remove the bitterness. This is where you add the vinegar.
Dry grilling the eggplant burns up the moisture. Eaten straight
after would be dry and probably a little flavorless.

I put them in the pan with the other veggies and added some salt
and a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, which was quickly
absorbed by the thirsty eggplant.



On the bread I spread some veganaise, spicy mustard, a dash of
garlic salt and fresh shredded basil. I would have loved some pesto
though... Then I added some sliced field roast, fresh tomatoes, and
fresh spinach.

I layered it all together and added another little spoonful of
vinegar on to the field roast, which is absorbent as well.
Then we grilled it with a little bit of olive oil and opened
a bottle of Bordeaux. I know it's french, but who is telling?



Writing this I just realized I forgot to add the black olives...
Oh well, don't tell Monkey-man!

Taste of Aloha Part Three: Island Burger

Not too often we'll splurge on some faux meet and this time we
decided to go for some garden burgers, but I can't be satisfied
with just a plain garden burger.

So I took a tropical twist it this time.
Layered with some grilled bell peppers, fresh sweet pineapple and
topped with a delicious thousand island dressing it could not be
more satisfying. The pineapple and sauce play perfectly together!

Vegan Thousand-Island Dressing

1/4 cup vegenaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1 small diced pickle
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp soysauce
1/2 tsp tobasco
1-2 tsp agave
salt and pepper

add all to a tight fitting jar and shake and pour!

Pleasing with Paninis

I really think that if you're cooking to tempt omnis, sandwiches and
paninis are definitely one of the best things you can make. Honestly
everybody likes sandwiches and you can pack in so much flavor with
veggie patties, spreads and marinades that you snag people with the
familiar.



I marinaded a pack of extra firm tofu in this marinade, but
added a 1/3-1/2 cup of red wine.

For bread, I made a single batch of whole wheat focaccia.
While that was baking I briefly sauteed 2 sliced yellow squash,
1 zucchini, and 1 green bell pepper. I caramalized a sliced onion
in the remaining marinade that was left over from the tofu. (I used
most of the remaining marinade to actually cook the tofu in).

Once the focaccia was cooked I cut it into 3x6 pieces. I used
guacamole and veganaise on one half and hummus on the other.
Usually when I make paninis I add a splash of balsamic vinegar
or a good slather of pesto. But these spreads were flavourful
enough to enhance the flavour of the veggies.

When assembling put the smaller stuff on the spread so it sticks
and doesn't fall out when you're grilling the sandwiches. I also
added some raw tomatoes and some moz daiya when stacking on the
squash, onions, peppers and tofu. When grilling the paninis you
need to either be using a press or lay something heavy on top of
them. I use another pan with a heavy mixing bowl set inside of it.
Monkey man says to pull a Martha Stewart and use bricks covered
with foil.

Grill each side on med-hi heat for 3-5 minutes with a bit of
olive oil or earthbalance.

I served mine with some oven-baked garlicy frenchy fries.
I ended up with about 8 paninis and some left over veggies.