Grilled Vegetable and Chicken Panini

Most of the time I take my time when I make a purchase. Be it clothing or an accessory for my house, I have to ponder it, determine whether it's just right and wait for the right price. Most of the time... Sometimes though, I make an impulsive purchase. Usually, it's something I see and feel that I need, that I must have, right here, right now, regardless of the price. Sometimes it's a coat from Banana Republic; other times it's shiny and promises to make perfect paninis. That's what happened when I bought my panini maker about 4 years ago at Williams-Sonoma.



I wish I could say I have been eating paninis daily, or at least weekly, ever since I purchased it. I wish I could say it's really convenient. The truth is, it stays in my cabinet because it's kind of big. It's a bit of a pain to clean because I cannot remove the grill. And I have to really wipe it down to make it shiny again. This doesn't make me love it less. The rare times I do make paninis, it makes me happy. Especially when I make chocolate paninis. It makes perfect grill marks.

Grilled Vegetable and Chickend Panini
Paninis are actually really easy to make. They require assembly rather than cooking. You just have to figure out what ingredients you want. There is a multitude of combinations. I also made Monte Cristo sandwiches in the panini maker.

* any bread - I used rosemary foccacia

* pesto - basil or sun dried tomato

* chicken - I bought a roast chicken and sliced the breast
* grilled vegetables - I used a red pepper and zucchini

* cheese - I used Swiss the first time and mozzarella the second time

Slice your bread in individual portions.

Slice horizontally.

Spread pesto on one side.

Top with the chicken, the vegetables and then the cheese.

Place the other piece of bread on top.

Place in the panini maker and press until the cheese is melted.

Tada!

Buy a rotisserie chickend and slice.

Grilling vegetables in the panini maker.

Spreading pesto on focaccia.


Topping with chicken slices and grilled vegetables.

Press in panini maker.

Ready to be enjoyed - I did not take a picture on a plate...