Warm Goat Cheese, Spinach, and Tomato Panini

OH. MY. GOODNESS.  

I am SO EXCITED to share today's recipe with y'all!  In fact, in the past 48 hours Bo has eaten this panini three times, and I have eaten it once (plus a few stolen bites from Bo's servings...hehehe).

So, here's the back story:

Two days ago Bo requested a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.  The chef in me thought that that sounded sort of boring.  So, instead of making us a traditional grilled cheese, I decided to use his suggestion as a basis for something much for sophisticated and delicious.

Enter: goat cheese

Armed with goat cheese as my secret ingredient, I proceeded to craft a sandwich that rivals  practically every deli sandwich I have eaten in my entire life.  Subway, Quiznos, Panera, you've got nothin' on me!

Ooey, gooey, and delicious!  This sandwich has the same creaminess as a childhood-classic grilled cheese, but with a refined twist.  If you can, eat this sandwich warm.  There is just something about warm bread and goat cheese that does a body (and a soul) good!

Warm Goat Cheese, Spinach, and Tomato Panini
Serves 1

2 slices of whole wheat bread (or bread of choice)
1.5 oz. goat cheese
1/3 medium tomato, sliced
small handful of spinach
salt, for garnish
pepper, for garnish
balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Directions:

• Preheat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
• Microwave the goat cheese for 10-15 seconds, just until it is easily spreadable.
• Spread a generous layer of the goat cheese over each piece of bread.
• Layer the spinach on top of the goat cheese.
• Add the thinly sliced tomatoes on top of the spinach.
• Sprinkle with a small pinch of salt and pepper.
• Drizzle with a small amount of balsamic vinegar.
• Place the top layer of bread onto the sandwich.
• Add the panini to the preheated skillet, and place a cast-iron skillet on top of it (this is to weight it down and to ensure that all of the ingredients meld together as they heat up).
• Cook on one side for 2-3 minutes, until the bread is browned - but not burned!
• Flip, and replace the cast-iron skillet on top of the panini.
• Cook on the other side for 2-3 minutes.
• Serve warm with fruit, chips, or any other side(s) of your choice.

I can't decide between these two pictures:  On the one hand, the top picture shows really great color definition of the panini.  The green, red, and white are so vibrant.  Heck, you can even see the speckled brown on top of the bread!  On the other hand, the bottom pictures has great lighting!  I love how you can still see the grapes, the plate, and the surrounding items in some definition.

In a perfect world, I would have both the talent and the equipment to take a picture that is somewhere right in the middle.  Until then, I will just keep honing my skills, and waiting for Christmas (or Bo's next pay raise!).

Question of the Day:


Do you like goat cheese?  If not, what other kinds of cheese DO you like (Who know...maybe I could come up with a sandwich using one of your favorites!)?

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Panzanella Salad

Before the age of 25, I had never even heard of Panzanella salad.  The salads I grew up with were your average garden variety.  Don't get me wrong, they were always delicious, but in general they consisted of lettuce, carrots, celery, and tomatoes topped with whatever bottled dressing was currently stocking our refrigerator door.  These days I like to change it up a little (okay, a LOT) when it comes to my salad repertoire.  So last night, when I saw a half-eaten loaf of Seeduction Bread from Whole Foods staring at me, I realized that I needed to come up with something that would use up several slices of this soon-to-be-stale bread.  A number of things ran through my head:

• bread pudding - no...that's too sweet;
• savory bread pudding - eh...still too much work; and
• french toast - nah...too breakfastey AND too sweet.

And then it hit me!  

I remembered a time, about three years ago, when I was staying with a dear friend for a week or two.  This friend is a foodie, like me, and one summer evening she whipped together this amazing bread and vegetable salad and called it Panzanella.  It was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.!  Thinking back on it, I honestly can't believe that I have waited so long to recreate the dish in my own kitchen.

Well, wait no longer!

Panzanella is here!

Specifically, Panzanella is a Florentine salad of bread and tomatoes popular in the summer.  It includes chunks of soaked stale bread and tomatoes, sometimes also onions and basil, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It is also popular in other parts of central Italy.

Panzanella salad is an Italian salad that was probably an invention of necessity.  Italian cooks waste nothing, and this was a way to utilize stale bread and vegetables from the garden.  The record of Panzanella goes back centuries.  In the 1500's, a poem by the famous artist, Bronzino, described the salad.  Of course, the tomato was quite a few years from being introduced into the Italian kitchen.  Therefore, until the 20th century, Panzanella was based on onions.  

[Today, Panzanella] always includes bread and tomatoes plus vegetables from the garden.  Vegetables can include cucumbers and onions.  Other ingredients - lettuce, olives, mozarella, white wine, capers, anchovies, celery, carrots, red wine, tuna, parsley, boiled eggs, mint, bell peppers, lemon juice, and garlic - are sometimes used, but Florentine traditionalists disapprove of them.  (Source 1 and Source 2)

Here is my version of the classic Italian dish, using many of the vegetables that we found at the Riverside Arts Market this past Saturday!

Panzanella Salad
Serves 4

4 pieces stale bread (or bread left out overnight), cubed
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
2-3 outer leaves of romaine lettuce, chopped
1 tsp dried parsley
1T dried basil
zest of 1 lemon
6T EVOO
1-2T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Drizzle the cubed bread with 1T EVOO.
• Bake the bread cubes for 15-20 minutes, tossing every 7-8 minutes, until crispy and lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, cook the minced garlic in 1 tsp EVOO until fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, romaine, parsley, basil, and lemon zest to a large salad bowl.
• Add the cooked garlic.
• Drizzle in the EVOO and balsamic vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Toss to incorporate.
• Add in the baked bread cubes; and toss.
• Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle.
• Serve, chilled, alongside your protein of choice.

Next time - another book review (and this time the book is neither utopian/dystopian in theme nor Young Adult in genre).  In fact, it's historical fiction, and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Question of the Day:


Have you ever had a Panzanella salad before?  If so, what did you think? If not, have you ever made your own croutons?!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo