Here’s a secret about this panini–it’s so good, I’m willing to roast a turkey breast for three hours in order to have leftovers to make it! Long relegated to the season of post-Thanksgiving, this panini is delightful year-round. When I worked in the cafe, we used to make them with deli meat, which would save you three hours in roasting the turkey, assuming you don’t have leftovers on hand. It’s where I originally fell in love with this sandwich.
It almost inspires me to write a new segment called “gourmet sandwiches in less than 10 minutes.” Eventually when you have so many kitchen appliances (such as a panini grill), the weight of the stuff begins to nag on you. “Use me, use me,” my kitchen things beckon from my under cabinets. “Use me, use me,” whisper the power tools in the basement. The only thing that gets used nearly everyday is the blender. Then the food processor. But this recipe makes me want to make permanent counter space for my old friend, Panini Grill.
Paninis were so 5 years ago, right? Before we thought that bread was the enemy, even though we survived the Atkins craze. When we thought that whole grain was healthy. The days before Wheat Belly. The days before Grain Brain. The days before gluten-free diets for people who do not have Celiac disease. I miss the naivete of those days. And today, I’m bringing back bread. This particular loaf from Rudolph’s Bakeries here in Toronto is the real star of this sandwich.
- 2 slices multigrain bread
- 2 tablespoons honey dijon mustard
- ¼ apple, sliced
- 3 ounces leftover roasted turkey breast (or equivalent deli cut)
- 2 ounces brie, sliced into thin strips
- butter for outside of bread
- Heat up the panini grill.
- Spread honey dijon mustard on both slices of bread. Add the sliced brie to one side and the sliced apple to the other side.
- Heat up turkey in the microwave for 45 seconds in a separate container. Put turkey on top of apples. Add the other slice of bread with brie to close the sandwich.
- Butter the outsides of the bread.
- Heat sandwich on the panini grill for 3-5 minutes until brie is melted.
You can easily control the caloric intake of this sandwich by the amount of ingredients and type of ingredients you use. My calorie calculation is for a large, Panera-style sandwich. If it were an ordinary day, I would make just a half sandwich and save myself the rest of the calories for something else delicious. Part of the reason I began to blog was to build awareness around my food intake and find a balance between taste and nutrition. It is an ongoing discovery.
Do you ever sit down with a wheel of brie and just eat the whole thing in one sitting? Or you share it with a friend, but that thing is gone by the end of the night? Yeah, those are the kinds of things I’m trying to avoid. This sandwich is still better than that. ;-)
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It’s Monday! New #recipe #ontheblog #castironcanteen Turkey apple brie panini #quickdinner – http://t.co/pqjOJyVoXI http://t.co/Tj31ao63BA
Looks delicious!