Eating Healthy: How to Make a Panini

When I think about Panini's, I get a warm feeling inside. Deep inside my heart I know that a good and healthy Panini is what the doctor ordered. It is a sandwich unlike any other, because it is hot. I don't mean spicy in any way. I mean, it is nice and warm on the stomach. Not only does it compliment your body temperature, but it gives you the natural ingredients. However, you must have the best ingredients in order to receive the benefit of good health. The vegetables to use are the garden vegetables Sweet Red Pepper, Eggplant, Beefsteak Tomato, Vidalia Onion, Portobello Mushroom and Fresh Spinach Leaves.

It is best to have your vegetables prepared a head of time to make your sandwich more enjoyable. This combination should satisfy your body's requirement for vegetables. However, one cannot make a sandwich with vegetables alone. It is in the way you prepare it. The preparation for such a creation must be made with love, or else it will not turn out to be the most spectacular sandwich in the world. One chef on the Food Network said the black area of the Portobello mushroom must be scraped off .

So, we will begin with the mushroom or fungus which is good anti-bacteria for the human body. The best thing to do is to wash with the vegan fruit and vegetable spray before scraping off the black area. You should then sauté in imported Italian Virgin Olive Oil and Thyme. Next, you should slice open a sweet red pepper horizontal wise, take out the seeds and core. This vegetable is very sweet roasted. The Vidalia onion is another vegetable with a sweet taste. I once heard that the ladies of Italy soak their onions over night to make it easier to slice without tears. Once your onion is sliced into large rounds, it too should be roasted. When slicing you tomatoes it must not be mushy. Make sure your tomato is red and firm enough to be sliced in a semi-thick round.

The tomato when sliced is alright as is, and should be set aside. The eggplant should be skinned, seeded and sliced lengthwise. Each slice should be dipped in flour, and sautéed in olive oil until soft. For a crispier eggplant , you can fry it with seasoned flour and egg. As for the spinach leaves, lightly blanch them in water until it turns a darker green. Now, you are ready for the next part of the sandwich. You need two a slices of firm bread such as a French Baguette fried in an egg beater or egg scrambler like French toast. The last part of this sandwich is a thick slice of cheese and your choice of lean meat. The final step is to layer the sandwich with the meat first, cheese and the vegetables in any order you like. The sandwich must be put in a special Panini Press and Grill until the cheese and meat are well done. All you have left to do is to savor the flavor of your perfect sandwich.