Football Fridays stretch long into the night, and so does a band nerd's appetite! For me, that means a huge PB &J sandwich for lunch to tie me over until dinner comes around. Tomorrow though, I'm taking something special for lunch; a crispy grilled panini with onions, peppers, and wonderful hummus! It's as simple as making a grilled cheese sandwich. What planet is 'hummus' from you ask? Planet savory-creamy-protein-spread of course! It's great on (just about) everything-- from pretzels and bagels to pastas and fresh vegetables. It's definitely worth making a big batch and you'll love how it gets slightly crispy on the edges in this sandwich, adding a nutty/salty/cheesy flavored filling.
You can find tubs of flavored hummus in almost any grocery store now in the refrigerated section. For those who want to go hard-core homemade, you'll need a couple things:
- 2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- salt, pepper, garlic, paprika (to taste)
** Recipe yields about 2 cups hummus
Blend up 1 can of garbanzo beans with the oil and water until smooth, scraping the sides of the blender with a spatula as you go. Add the second can of beans plus spices and pulse them until you get a peanut butter or cream cheese consistency. That's it! I got the base of this recipe from Veganomicon. This god-of-all-vegan-cooking books is stuffed with amazing recipes to impress dinner guests; I highly suggest you check it out if you haven't already!
Now. . . onto the sandwich!!
Blend up 1 can of garbanzo beans with the oil and water until smooth, scraping the sides of the blender with a spatula as you go. Add the second can of beans plus spices and pulse them until you get a peanut butter or cream cheese consistency. That's it! I got the base of this recipe from Veganomicon. This god-of-all-vegan-cooking books is stuffed with amazing recipes to impress dinner guests; I highly suggest you check it out if you haven't already!
Now. . . onto the sandwich!!
Really, all you need for this panini is hummus and bread, but that would be far too easy... try:
- 2 slices bread
- 2-3 Tbsp hummus
- 1 small onion
- 1 small sweet pepper
Preheat a skillet or griddle on medium high heat.
- Slice your onion into thin rings and the peppers in long strips. Allow them to get soft and a little brown on the side of the skillet/griddle while you follow step 2.
- Start lightly toasting both sides of your bread. (this keeps them from getting soggy later).
- Spread a thick layer of hummus onto one slice. Top with your caramelized onion and pepper. Squash the other slice of bread on.
- Place a pot lid on top of the sandwich. The idea is to put pressure on the cooking sandwich to help the bread toast throughout.
- Flip your panini (carefully- we don't need a sandwich on the ceiling dear) and repeat step 4 for this side. Steps 4 and 5 should take 5-8 minutes. Take off the heat and you've got yourself a nice lookin' work of art in your presence!