Grilled Carrot Sandwich

Today I missed lunch since I got stuck with something. I had not done any prep for lunch as well so I turned to my always fall back option - sandwich. I only had carrots and celery in the refrigerator that was suitable for a sandwich. So I added some of this and some of that and came up with an awesome sandwich and also felt good that I did get my share of fiber in. Since I cannot give up my white bread, my make up route is to make the additions / stuffing / filling nutritional.

Ingredients
Bread - 8 slices
Butter - a bit
Carrot - 2
Onion, small - 2
Mozzarella, grated - 1/4 cup
Celery - 2 tbsp
Pepper - a pinch
Mayonnaise - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Worcestershire sauce - 1 tsp
Salt - a dash
Coriander leaves - a few

Grate the carrot and mozzarella, finely chop the onion, celery and coriander. Mix all the ingredients except bread and butter, and slightly mash with the back of the spoon. Or you could just give it a couple of pulses in the food processor.

Butter one side of each slice and keep aside. Spread the filling on the unbuttered side and cover with another side. The buttered sides have to be on the outside. Grill this and you are ready with your grilled sandwich.

 

Cut into halves and serve with ketchup.

Somewhere in between clicking, I forgot and started taking large bites of my sandwich

 

 My Grilled Carrot Sandwich goes to
 - "Light Dinners" guest hosted by abowlofcurry, originally by Vardhini of cooksjoy

 

Chunky Chicken Sandwich

In our quest to get our chicken sandwich right, we tried a few combinations. With this chunky chicken sandwich, we are almost there in getting the taste right. A Ciabatta roll would work best for this sandwich. In case you are unable to find Ciabatta in your local bakery, go ahead and make it with regular sandwich bread like we did.

Ingredients
Bread Slices - 4
Chicken breast - 1
Lettuce leaves - 2
Tomato - 1
Onion - 1
Jalapeno - 5 to 6 pieces (optional)
Oregano - couple of dashes
Black pepper powder - a pinch
Mayonnaise - 3 tsp
Mustard - 0.5 tsp

Cut the chicken breast into chunks, wash it well and sprinkle some salt and keep for about 30 minutes. Heat a pan and cook the chicken pieces till done, sprinkling water as required. Take it off the heat when done.

In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise and mustard together. Thinly slice the tomato and onion.

Lay two bread slices out and apply the mayo-mustard on it, then layer the lettuce leaves, onion and tomato slices. Spread the chicken pieces as well. In case using jalapeno then add it. Apply the mayo-mustard mix on the remaining two slices and place it face down on the prepared sandwich. Heat a ridged pan. Press the prepared sandwich lightly and place it on the pan and lightly grill both sides.

 

Chicken Sandwich

My husband and I loved the sandwiches we got at Quiznos when we were in the United States. Since the time we returned to India we tried to find a replacement sandwich place but we were not completely and fully taken by any completely. For me, I love sandwiches, period, but that's not the case with my husband. He loves his chicken sandwich and tried a lot of places but was not satisfied with any he tried till date. The chicken sandwich he likes is simple to the sound - put together grilled chicken, mayo, onion, tomato, jalapeno and lettuce with a dash of salt and oregano.

 

Then we once had a Chicken Jungli Sandwich made by his cousin who is a chef; the sandwich was superlative and we couldn't resist but ask for the recipe. But I lost the recipe and could only remember a few ingredients, but I put those together and added some I thought would go well and I came up with this sandwich. And we enjoyed it as much. It is a great sandwich to team up with a soup for a hearty dinner.

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches)
Bread slices - 4
Chicken, boneless - 100 gms
Mayonnaise - 2.5 to 3 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Lettuce leaves - 2
Celery, finely chopped - 2 tbsp
Capsicum, finely chopped - 2 tbsp
Green chilli, very finely chopped - 1
Cheese slice - 2
Black pepper pwd - a pinch
Salt as per taste
Butter - a little (optional)

Wash the pieces and cut off all the fat off. In a sauce pan add the chicken, a little salt, a pinch of pepper and a couple of tablespoons of water and cover and cook. Take it off the heat when done. Let it cool and shred to pieces.

 

In a bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, celery, capsicum and green chilli. Apply this on one side of a bread slice and top it with chicken pieces and then cheese slice. Place another slice of bread on this and apply a spot of butter (optional) on the outer side of the bread slices and keep aside. Heat a ridged pan on and when hot place the sandwich on it and toast till light brown ridges are formed on both sides. Take it off the pan and add the lettuce leaves in between and cut each sandwich into two.

Serve with tomato ketchup.

Egg Sandwich

Who doesn't like a sandwich? especially a creamy mayonnaise added one. The first time I had an egg sandwich, was from my friend's lunch box in school. I did not particularly like it, I thought the taste wasn't right, maybe something was missing. I did not take to it and avoided it for long, till I had it again years later, at a café. And that's where I liked it and tried making it at home. The mayo, mustard mix makes a good spread to use on this sandwich. It's easy to make and only requires some time to prep.

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches)
Bread - 4 slices
Butter - 2 tsp (optional)
Eggs - 2
Onion - 2 tbsp, chopped
Celery - 2 tbsp, chopped
Cabbage - 2 tbsp, chopped
Mayonnaise - 2 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Tomato Ketchup - 1 tsp
Pepper pwd - 2 pinches
Salt (optional)

Hard boil the eggs and when cool peel and chop the eggs into small pieces. Put the chopped eggs into a bowl and add the chopped onion, celery, cabbage, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, salt (optional) and pepper powder and mix well. Crush slightly with the back of the spoon when mixing.
 

Lightly toast the bread slices and apply butter on one side of each slice. Spread some of the egg mix on the buttered side of two slices and cover with the other slices. Press down a little and then cut each sandwich into two.  

Serve with some ketchup and mustard and a salad on the side.

Oven Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwich

Sandwiches are my weakness especially vege sandwiches. It can be the simple tomato and onion sandwich that we make at home for as long as I can remember. A simple sandwich made with cheese and a little poppy seed dressing between two plump slices of bread is another one I make to assuage the evening hunger pangs. The best sandwiches I have had was when we stayed in the US, from the numerous delis, Quiznos, Au Bon Pain, etc., some toasted and some with fresh crunchy vegetables. The toasted warm sandwiches and soups were apt for the north-east winter lunch and I would literally run to Au Bon Pain or the deli across the street. I was introduced to the eggplant and mozzarella and the roasted tomato and mozzarella sandwiches during one of those lunch times and fell in love with them.

Today, I made an oven roasted tomato and mozzarella sandwich with some lettuce leaves and a sprinkling of herbs. It is very easy to make and once the tomatoes are roasted all that's needed is to put all the ingredients between two slices of bread.
Ingredients
Bread - 4 slices
Tomato - 2 medium sized
Mozzarella cheese - 4 slices
Oil (preferably Olive) - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oregano to taste

Wash and slice the tomatoes into thick slices. Take a bowl, add the tomatoes, 1tsp oil, the salt and oregano and mix well. Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius. Apply the rest of the oil on one part of the tray and place the tomato slices on it and slide it into the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Take two slices of bread and top with the cheese and pop it into the oven till the cheese melts and spreads. Top with the roasted tomatoes, sprinkle some more oregano if you like and the lettuce leaves. Top with the remaining two bread slices and its ready to serve.

Brunch with leftovers!

Take some leftovers, put them together with some additions and voila! you have a lovely brunch.

On a cold Sunday morning, the urge to sleep in under a warm comforter is really high and hence a meal of leftovers makes life easy. The menu was - an onion and green chilli omelette, potato masala sandwiches, cheese slices, sweet puttu and bananas and tea to round it all off.

I had some potato masala in the refrigerator and I used this to make some stuffed sandwiches which I then toasted with butter in a pan. I also had some puttu which I had steamed with sugar and extra coconut to make an instant sweet ending to our breakfast. Added some small bananas to the steamed puttu - all Kerala style! All this needed was a Kerala chaaya and my meal was ready to be served.