How to Make Paninis That Will Knock Your Socks Off!

Finally, I have a reason to use my George Foreman grill again! Remember back in the day when everyone thought that high protein, low-fat diets were healthy? (You know that we were misguided then, right?) Well, when I learned the truth about fats and how good it was to eat fats with their attached proteins (thank you Sally Fallon), I put my George Foreman grill on the shelf. Well, now thanks to one of my lunchtime panini cravings, the Foreman is back!

It all started when my husband and I stopped at a little deli the other day, excited to try one of their advertised special paninis. At the mere mention of said panini, my mouth started watering in anticipation. The crisp bread, the melted cheese, the caccophony of flavors, I could hardly wait! But then, as I bit into the premade deli sandwich, I was crestfallen at the reality of the flavor, or the lack thereof.

So, I went on a mission to create my own panini, and let me say, it was well worth the journey. I think that having fresh, quality ingredients really makes all of the difference.

Ingredients

• Sourdough Bread (I just purchased some from our local grocery store. Properly prepared sourdough is, in my opinion, the healthiest bread choice because it gets rid of the most phytic acid that blocks mineral absorbtion.)
• Lunchmeat (I would have preferred sliced organic free range chicken, but I settled for Oscar Meyer’s carving board lunchmeat.)
• Cheese (I used sliced havarti and shredded cheddar.)
• Tomato Slices
• Avocado Slices
• Finely Chopped Jalapeño
• Mustard
• Mayonnaise (I like Hellman’s)
• Real Salt
• Butter

Directions

1. Plug in the Foreman grill. Prop the front legs up on a cutting board to make it level so that all of the butter doesn’t slip out.
2. Spread the butter generously on one side of the sourdough bread.
3. Stack the two slices of bread so that the butter sides are together so that you can put the toppings on the other side of one of the slices.
4. Start by spreading the mayo and mustard on the bread.
5. Then add your lunchmeat and sliced cheese.
6. Add the tomato, avocado, and jalapeño. (Be careful not to let things stack too high.)
7. Add a nice sprinkling of Real Salt, and hey, maybe even add a dash of pepper to boot.
8. Cover everything with a handful of shredded cheese.
   

   Making the Panini

9. Carefully place the bread half with all of the toppings onto the preheated Foreman grill and cover with the other half of the bread.
10. Press the top down really hard and cook for about 10 minutes (or until all of the cheese is melty and gooey and the bread is nicely browned.

Grilled Paninis

Variations

• Ultimate Grilled Cheese Panini: I put tomato, jalapeño, garlic, and salt into our little food chopper and pulsed it until it was a finely chopped. Then, I put these ingredients in between two layers of cheese and grilled them to perfection.
  

  Ultimate Grilled Cheese Panini

• Roasted Chicken Panini: After I cooked a delicious roasted chicken and cut up all of the meat into chunks, I placed those chunks on my sourdough bread and topped them with sliced tomato, chopped jalapeno, fresh parsley, and shredded cheddar cheese. It was amazing!
  
• Breakfast Panini: Cook some scrambled eggs and bacon separately, then place the scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese on sourdough and grill it up! Add some jalapenos for a little kick!