Monday, September 5, 2011

Grilled Vegetable and herbed goat cheese sandwich

I found this recipe on the SF gate website, and it was with a ricotta basil spread. I modified it with herbed goat cheese since I am not too fond of ricotta. We took this sandwich as our picnic lunch over the weekend with some chips and soda, and some homemade brownies and the sandwich  turned out great! :) It kept well too for a few hours. We plan to do many more picnics with modifications of this recipe :)


Ingedients:
  • 1 medium eggplant, about 10 ounces, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick slices
  • 2 green, red or orange bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and quartered
  • 3 medium zucchini, about 1 pound, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick strips
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely minced
  • -- Kosher salt
  • -- Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup goat cheese
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed basil, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely minced
  • 2 medium-sized tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch rounds
  • 3 cups fresh arugala
  • -- Ciabatta bread or baguette, sliced horizontally and toasted or grilled
  • -- Leftover pesto if desired
Method:
Prepare and heat a grill to high, or preheat a grill pan. Meanwhile, combine the eggplant, peppers and zucchini with the 1/4 cup olive oil, the vinegar, thyme, a few pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and let marinate as the grill is heating. Combine the goat cheese with the basil and thyme, the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, and set aside.
When the grill is hot, grill the vegetables on both sides until cooked through and with clear grill marks - 2-3 minutes per side.
To assemble, spread the herdbed goat cheese on one side of the bread, then layer the grilled vegetables and tomato on top. Spread the arugala on the sandwich. Spread the other slice of bread with leftover pesto, if using, and top off sandwich. Cut into portions and serve.