So today was a gloomy day here in Boston,
it didn't rain but it was overcast, cold and windy (and just the beginning)
Oh damn winter!
But todays dinner for two is going to be a cafe style,
soup, sandwich and salad.
This is a really good Monday night dinner, I always find that on Monday I come home from work tired and in a bad mood not wanting to cook at all! But ordering pizza every time I had a bad day at work wouldn't really be reasonable.
For the Sandwiches, we're going to do a Foreman grill panini, with ham, Swiss, sprouts and spicy brown mustard. then a vegetable minestrone soup (tomato basil works really well too) and a mixed greens salad with celery, carrots, tomato and cucumber.
( I am going to put a shopping list in each post, and then the cooking directions, so that if your a once a week shopper you can just combined them all or you can just run out to the store after reading)
shopping list:
1/2 lb honey ham, thin sliced
1/2 lb Swiss cheese
1/2 loaf of focaccia bread
1 bag of salad mix
Celery
Carrots
1 tomato
1 cucumber
Barley sprouts
1-2 cans of vegetable minestrone soup
1 bottle of red wine
*Things you probably should have at home*
(but if not get them)
Spicy brown mustard
Balsamic salad dressing
Just a few notes notes on the list, the Shaw's that I go to sells half loafs of bread, if yours doesn't no sweat focaccia makes awesome cold sandwiches, garlic bread, or is good as a side with any dinner instead of rolls. Also you will end up with extra veggies, I normally make a salad to go with every meal, so I don't worry about having extras, if you are however you can buy bags of salad mix with other veggies mixed in or get a bag of raw veggie slaw (an awesome salad and sandwich topper!). Now for the soup Joe and I can normally split one of the large cans and be fine it just depends on how much soup your going to want really, to be safe though I would do 2 cans.
Now, let's start cookin'!
Plug in your Foreman and cut your focaccia in half (so you end up with 2 quarters) then slice it open like a bun, spread a thin layer of the mustard on both sides of each. Then drop a pile of rinsed, dries sprouts on one side then a slice of Swiss, then 1/4 lb of ham, then another slice of Swiss, a few sliced tomatoes, then put the top on. Don't grill them yet, you want to have both sandwiches constructed and the soup, starting to cook before you start cooking. So, put your soup in a sauce pan on medium/high heat. If you have a big enough grill you can cook both sandwiches at once, if not don't crowd them just cook then one at a time and put one in the oven set to warm while the other cooks. While your sandwiches and soup are cooking cut up any veggies that need to be, and toss salad in a large bowl with balsamic dressing.
The sandwiches should be a golden brown on the outside and a little crispy, the cheese should be melted but the ham might not be hot, that's okay that's how it is supposed to be if you leave it on the grill till the ham has warmed all the way through you will most likely burn the bread.
So plate the salad and sandwiches on a plate and pour the soup into bowls, set a table for two and pop open the wine!
Tune in tomorrow for another delightful dinner for two
romantic&junk
kj
it didn't rain but it was overcast, cold and windy (and just the beginning)
Oh damn winter!
But todays dinner for two is going to be a cafe style,
soup, sandwich and salad.
This is a really good Monday night dinner, I always find that on Monday I come home from work tired and in a bad mood not wanting to cook at all! But ordering pizza every time I had a bad day at work wouldn't really be reasonable.
For the Sandwiches, we're going to do a Foreman grill panini, with ham, Swiss, sprouts and spicy brown mustard. then a vegetable minestrone soup (tomato basil works really well too) and a mixed greens salad with celery, carrots, tomato and cucumber.
( I am going to put a shopping list in each post, and then the cooking directions, so that if your a once a week shopper you can just combined them all or you can just run out to the store after reading)
shopping list:
1/2 lb honey ham, thin sliced
1/2 lb Swiss cheese
1/2 loaf of focaccia bread
1 bag of salad mix
Celery
Carrots
1 tomato
1 cucumber
Barley sprouts
1-2 cans of vegetable minestrone soup
1 bottle of red wine
*Things you probably should have at home*
(but if not get them)
Spicy brown mustard
Balsamic salad dressing
Just a few notes notes on the list, the Shaw's that I go to sells half loafs of bread, if yours doesn't no sweat focaccia makes awesome cold sandwiches, garlic bread, or is good as a side with any dinner instead of rolls. Also you will end up with extra veggies, I normally make a salad to go with every meal, so I don't worry about having extras, if you are however you can buy bags of salad mix with other veggies mixed in or get a bag of raw veggie slaw (an awesome salad and sandwich topper!). Now for the soup Joe and I can normally split one of the large cans and be fine it just depends on how much soup your going to want really, to be safe though I would do 2 cans.
Now, let's start cookin'!
Plug in your Foreman and cut your focaccia in half (so you end up with 2 quarters) then slice it open like a bun, spread a thin layer of the mustard on both sides of each. Then drop a pile of rinsed, dries sprouts on one side then a slice of Swiss, then 1/4 lb of ham, then another slice of Swiss, a few sliced tomatoes, then put the top on. Don't grill them yet, you want to have both sandwiches constructed and the soup, starting to cook before you start cooking. So, put your soup in a sauce pan on medium/high heat. If you have a big enough grill you can cook both sandwiches at once, if not don't crowd them just cook then one at a time and put one in the oven set to warm while the other cooks. While your sandwiches and soup are cooking cut up any veggies that need to be, and toss salad in a large bowl with balsamic dressing.
The sandwiches should be a golden brown on the outside and a little crispy, the cheese should be melted but the ham might not be hot, that's okay that's how it is supposed to be if you leave it on the grill till the ham has warmed all the way through you will most likely burn the bread.
So plate the salad and sandwiches on a plate and pour the soup into bowls, set a table for two and pop open the wine!
Tune in tomorrow for another delightful dinner for two
romantic&junk
kj
No comments:
Post a Comment