Cheezy Panini

I'm going to call this one Cheezy Panini but it really has very little cheeziness to it actually. This is one of my kids all time favorite meals that I ever make. Actually the habit was started after frequenting the local Loving Hut vegan restaurant here in Cincinnati. (http://lovinghut.us/cincinnati_01/) They have the most amazing food and anyone can find something they will love there...from the vegan chicken sandwich to the raw taco supreme or the green smoothie with cherry cheezcake, they have it all! We just ate there a few night ago and as J was biting into his favorite sandwich (the American Panini) he said, with such deep emotion, "this is my favorite restaurant!". Now my panini didn't receive such praise but it was tasty in its own right. The ingredients are as follows:

Ezekiel Sprouted wheat bread

vegenaise (eggless mayo)

mustard

homemade coleslaw

sliced pickles

Daiya mozzarella cheese

If I had tomato I would have added that too......(we also put the tofurky slices on this sandwich sometimes)

First prepare the coleslaw to your liking. I just used a bag of pre-chopped slaw mix from the grocery store or you can chop and shred your own cabbage and carrots if you have the time. Then add about a 1/4 cup of an olive oil based salad dressing like Italian. stir stir stir so the cabbage begins to wilt and then add a couple of spoonfuls of vegenaise. Cole slaw is one of my favorite things to eat actually! Here is what it looks like when its done.

My dressing had blueberries in it so it gave it a slight blue color~ It still tasted perfect!

Next you assemble the sandwiches however you like them.

As you can see I got some help with spreading the mustard and vegenaise. J loves to help me do everything in the kitchen. He is such a great joy to have and flutters around endlessly looking for new things to get done. After we layered on the coleslaw, pickles and Daiya cheez they are ready to be put in the skillet to "grill". We used an olive oil spray so they wouldn't stick and also to help cut down on the fat. If you have a panini grill it will be easy to make this but if not there is a trick to get it all melty inside. You have to put some pressure on the top of the sandwich and squish it down with the spatula. It will only take a few minutes to cook on either side at about medium heat.

A tossed green salad was served on the side and voila, another quick and pretty simple meal. Hope you enjoyed this post and are inspired to create something similar yourself!