Easy Veggie And Hummus Sammich

Remember that raw hummus recipe from yesterday? I hope so, since it was only yesterday.

ANYWAY, here's me using that hummus in a easy-breezy veggie sandwich why btw? Totally tasted awesome. I had to make seconds for everybody which is kind of amazing when you realize that it was HEALTHY.

The Most Delicious Caprese Paninis Ever, I SWEAR

Have you ever had a Caprese salad? They're delightful, really; thickly sliced tomatoes piled with fresh buffalo mozzarella and sweet basil leaves, and drizzled, typically, with balsamic vinegar and fine olive oil. They're fabulous in the summer. I sometimes add a little salt to my Caprese salads, but not always, since fine herbs and good vinegar/oil usually does the trick.

I decided to kick my Caprese salad up a notch, making a panini sandwich out of it. I thought I'd incorporate my Easy Breezy Every Day Pesto into it to add some nice punch and flavor. Because it's important, I made sure that all the ingredients were as fresh as possible.

The result was something out of this world -- fresh, light and even healthy. I made mine in a waffle maker because honestly? Do you think I'm going to spend $50 for a panini maker? Hardly. A waffle maker will do just fine, and if you don't have one of those, try toasting the sandwich in a cast iron skillet, the sandwich weighed down by another heavy pan or pot. Works expertly. My grade? To the moon and beyond! A++

The Most Delicious Caprese Paninis

Ingredients:

3 Roma tomatoes
Good balsamic vinegar
Good extra virgin olive oil
1 container buffalo mozzarella in water
15 - 20 leaves fresh sweet Basil
pesto
1 loaf sliced Italian bread (or ciabatta)
butter

Directions:
About an hour before panini making, marinate thinly sliced Roma tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The tomatoes will let off liquid into the oil and vinegar, creating a nice marinade.

About ten minutes before panini making, turn on waffle maker or begin to heat pan.

One hour later, arrange two bread slices for sandwich making. Slather both pieces with homemade pesto (the more the merrier, depending on how much you like the green stuff). Atop the pesto create a layer of marinated Roma tomatoes. Atop the tomatoes layer thinly sliced buffalo mozzarella. Atop the mozzarella drape the sweet basil leaves. Create sandwich, lightly buttering the outsides of both pieces of bread, and then brushing on a light layer of olive oil.

Place sandwich into waffle maker and close lid. Watch closely, making sure cheese melts and tomatoes and basil become sufficiently wilted. Pull sandwich when bread is golden brown. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook time: 30 minutes prep, 5 minutes cooking (per panini)

Cheese-Inside Cheesyburgers (Oh My God!)

Again, and this should go without saying: I am a Food Network Junkie. Certifiable. I watch all the hosts except maybe one or two that I simply cannot stand (I'm sorry but...Alton Brown? Manic! Insane! Slow down!) and am presently really enjoying Guy Fieri. You know him; he's the guy from Guy's Big Bite with the spiked white hair and a hankering for dude-food and big cocktails. The kind of guy I would like, right?

Anyway, I was watching Guy on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and just happened to see a couple of guys in Minnesota prepare what looked to be the best freaking cheeseburger in the world. Big, thick, packed with juice and what looked like flavor, these guys placed a big ol' hunk of cheese in the center of their patty as opposed to topping the patty with cheese after the fact. And oh my God.

I wanted to get into my car and go to St. Paul immediately, but given the price of gas these days and plus the fact that hello it's winter in Minnesota, I decided to try to make these fabulous burgers myself. I made sure to buy ground chuck with good fat content to insure juiciness, but also mixed it with ground sirloin which I knew would pack that wonderful flavor. And WOW, were they good. My grade: A+

Cheese-Inside Cheesyburgers

Ingredients:

2 parts 80/20 ground chuck to 1 part 90/10 ground sirloin (I used 2 lbs to 1 lb)
1 - 3 cloves of garlic (one clove for each pound of meat used)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 - 2 ounces cheese of choice per burger (about 1/2 inch thick and about 4 inches long) we used cheddar, pepper jack and American)
Hamburger buns, store bought, your favorite
1 tablespoon olive oil
Hamburger garnishes (lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo, mustard, you know the drill)

Directions:

Mix first four ingredients in large bowl. Salt and pepper is dependent upon amount of meat used. Needless to say seasoning is essential, meaning too little salt = bland while too much salt = inedible. Ride the lightning, my friends, and make the right choice for the amount of meat you have.

Pat down a thin, large patty with burger mixture and place hunk of cheese in the center of the patty. Pat another thin, large patty of equal size, and place it on top of the existing patty with cheese. Mold together, sealing ends. (Slapping the patty back and forth in your hands is the easy way to do this.) Fry in cast iron pan or atop grill until cooked to specification. Don't know how to judge when a hamburger is done? Read this.

While burgers are cooking, heat olive oil in griddle or frying pan atop stove. Toast hamburger buns until golden brown or desired coloration/texture is achieved.

When burgers and buns are finished, assemble with garnishes and EAT. Just EAT and EAT and EAT.

Difficulty: Extremely easy
Prep/Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 8 + depending on size of burgers (and based on 3 lbs of meat)