The rumors are true...

As mentioned in the previous post, today we are blogging on pannini's. Recently (while Chelsea was in Wisconsin and I was trying to kill time) I made a great purchase at Barnes and Noble. From the Eat This Not That series I found a little cookbook (literally, it's pretty small) named Cook This Not That. It's a cookbook that gives you healthier recipes for your favorite dishes at chain restaurants. Most food cooked in chain restaurants come with ridiculous amounts of sodium and saturated fat. This book comes with recipes for those same dishes, only with better ingredients, less sodium and saturated fat, and sometimes at half the cost!

I like the book so much that I plan my grocery list around it. This week I decided to make Chicken Pesto Pannini's, similar to a Chicken Pesto Pannini from Panera Bread. And don't worry about not having a pannini maker, you can make a great pannini on a nonstick pan OR your George Forman grill. This is what you will need for 4 servings (you can always scale it down or make a sweet lunch for the following day):

8 slices of whole grain sourdough bread (7-grain, whole wheat, any-wheat works well)

4 Tbsp of Pesto

4 oz of fresh mozzarella (the fresh kind is expensive. If you're watching the budget get the Kraft stuff, it works just as well)

3/4 lb of cooked chicken (if you don't want to take the time to grill or cook the chicken, buy a rotisserie chicken and use breast meat)

1 red bell pepper (any pepper works, red peppers are typically really expensive)

Olive oil

Canola oil

1. Use a little bit of canola oil to cook the peppers (my new mantra is low and slow; low heat for longer time, it pays off to wait!)

2. When the peppers are done grab one slice of bread and spread 1 Tbsp. of pesto. Put the peppers on top of the pesto.

3. On the other slice place the chicken and mozzarella.

4. Use a bit of olive oil to coat a nonstick pan. Turn it on to medium-low heat. Put the sandwich on the pan. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until it's golden brown on both sides.

Cut in half and enjoy!

We've recently become fans of sweet potato fries, so we made some sweet potato fries as a side dish for our pannini... not sure if they're dishing this up in Milan or Macaroni Grill as a side dish, but it's worth some serious consideration. Here's the recipe for some sweet, sweet potato fries:

1. 2 medium sized sweet potatoes peeled and cut into fry size pieces. Really you can cut them however you'd like.

2. olive oil

3. cayenne pepper (optional)

4. salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. When you've cut the 2 potatoes place them in a baking dish and toss in olive oil.

3. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste

4. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper (optional)

5. Put in the oven for until they're crispy

Et voila! Here's a pic of what we made paired with this awesome beer we bought at the Whole Foods in Austin. It's by the India Wells Brewing Co. and it's called Orange Blossom Amber.

Bon apetit y buen provecho! Until next time.