Grilled vegetable cheese sandwich with spinach avocado spread
Apr 28, 2013 in fruit, lunch box recipes, breakfast recipes, chutneys and dips, spring. Read the original on: Paaka-shaale
This post appears in the Editors Ask: Spring Ingredients challenge.
Ohhh these sandwiches are good. So good that I can have these for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same day. This is indeed a good sandwich for a hot summer day. All it needs is a few slices for tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and this heavenly spread and you are good to go. This sandwich is filling and healthy to boot. It can be a goto sandwich when you don't want to turn on the stove on a hot sweltering day.
I just love the combination of the spinach and avocado. The combo of fresh spinach and creamy avocado is just too hard to resist. The recipe for this spread is inspired from the spinach avocado pesto from joy the baker. I refuse to call this spread as pesto because, it does not have traditional ingredients that goes into making a pesto. I avoided the use of cheese for the fear of diminishing the shelf life. Dar has a humid climate and food stuffs with cheese tend to go bad despite the refrigeration. But, inspite all the changes, the dip/spread was as tasty as ever. So tasty, that this spread seems to boost the flavor of any dish that it is added to. No wonder. These sandwiches taste out of this world. Apart from sandwiches, I have tried incorporating this spread in pasta, on crackers and the taste was just awesome.
I have used white bread in these sandwiches. But you can use any bread that you like. I guess soft whole wheat bread would work great as well. As for the cheese, you can use either mozzarella, cheddar or even gouda. This sandwich is quite substantial and filling. Just pair this with a simple soup and rest assured your meal is bound to be a generous one
Grilled vegetable cheese sandwich with spinach avocado spread:
Preparation time: 20min
Cooking time: 15min
Makes- 2 sandwiches and 1-1/2cup of pesto
Ingredients for the pesto
Finely chopped Spinach- 250gms tightly packed
Avocado- 1 med sized
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper powder- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Olive oil- 2tbsp+2tsp
Method:
- Heat 2tsp of olive oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they turn brown, add the chopped spinach and fry for 2-3min till the spinach wilts a little.
- Add salt and fry for two more minutes. Take off the heat and allow the spinach to cool completely
- Chop the avocado into two halves, remove the seed and scoop out the flesh into a blender jar.
- Add the lemon juice, pepper powder and the cooled spinach mixture and pulse the mixture for 5-6 times.
- Add the remaining 2 tbsps of olive oil and blend the mixture till smooth.
- Transfer the contents from the blender to a sterilized jar and refrigerate till further use.
Ingredients for the sandwich:
Bread- 4 slices
Avocado spinach spread- 2 tbsp or as required
Pickled chili peppers- 1tbsp or to taste
Salt- to taste
Tomato- 1, thinly sliced
Cucumber- 1 small, thinly sliced
Cheddar or mozzarella cheese- 2 slices
Butter or oil to shallow fry
Method:
- Spread butter or oil on the outside of the bread slices and spread the spinach avocado spread on the inside of the bread.
- Arrange cucumber slices on one slice of bread and place a slice of cheese on top.
- Place 3-4 pieces of picked chili peppers and top with tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper to taste and finally top with another slice of bread, spread side in and press slightly.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and place the prepared sandwich on the hot skillet.
- Grill the sandwich till it is golden brown and the cheese has melted. About 1-2 mins per side and serve immediately.
Read the original on: Paaka-shaale
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