Friday, April 8, 2011

Recipes that sandwich
spring into quesadillas and panini

In this Recipes That Worked entry, I bring you two recipes that sandwich spring into quesadillas and panini. Both are from Everyday Food magazine.
   The first recipe, for Goat Cheese and Mango Quesadillas (click for the recipe), takes advantage of the cool tanginess of goat cheese. It serves as a base for the sweet mango and the slight bite of jalapeno pepper – a great combination.
   The second recipe, for Cheddar-Scallion Panini (click for the recipe), will be a hit with fans of grilled cheese sandwiches.
   The recipe I linked to from the Everyday Food website is for the panini, along with a green pea soup. The soup is serviceable, but not terrific; I’m recommending the panini.
   In this recipe, sharp white cheddar and scallions, otherwise known as green onions, pair up for a zesty filling.
   Although the recipe recommends rye bread, white would work beautifully, too.
   Both recipes are very easy to make.
   For the Goat Cheese and Mango Quesadillas, my husband and I used canned mango pieces. After draining them, we sliced them into smaller pieces.
   As we always do, my husband and I skipped the cilantro and used parsley instead. We also left out the red onion.
   Room-temperature goat cheese is spread on six-inch whole-wheat tortillas. Mango, jalapeno pepper and parsley are placed on one half of each tortilla, and the other half is folded over.
   The quesadillas are cooked in batches in a skillet, about one to two minutes per side. This time is just about perfect – any longer and the quesadillas start to burn.
   They are also cooked without oil in the skillet. That’s a good measure, because oily quesadillas are unpleasant!
   After cooking, the quesadillas are cut into wedges. The recipe says four, but we cut two wedges instead.
   For the Cheddar-Scallion Panini, shredded sharp white cheddar cheese is tossed with thinly-sliced scallion greens and the mixture put between slices of bread.
   The panini can be cooked two ways: With butter in a skillet, or on a panini maker (without butter!)
   Serve and enjoy these springy sandwiches.

1 comment:

Marissa, Brianna, Benny, & Tara said...

I always leave out cilantro, as well. :)