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| My shiny new Panini press can work magic! |
Finding good gluten-free sandwich bread is a problem. It
never tastes quite right, the texture is generally too dense, and it falls
apart easily. Don’t get me wrong: many good cooks have found solutions to those
problems, but not without a great deal of experimentation, and a huge amount of
patience and persistence (neither of which I possess).
I have found an easy solution, though, which has rocked my
lunchtime world! It’s my brand new Hamilton Beach Panini Press. I sampled a
small sandwich made with turkey breast, Swiss cheese, homemade pesto, and Udi’s
multigrain sandwich bread at a support group meeting several weeks ago. It was
so delicious that I went right home and ordered an inexpensive (under $25)
press on Amazon. It’s now sitting on my kitchen counter, waiting to create its
next work of art.
Trust me on this: putting a couple of slices of even so-so
bread, along with your favorite toppings, in a Panini press works some kind of
magic on a sandwich. You (almost) forget that the bread is gluten-free as you
enjoy that warm, crunchy, melty bit of heaven.
For lunch today, I had a sandwich made of gluten-free
sourdough bread (purchased at the farmers’ market), homemade black olive
tapenade (so easy), sliced jalapeno-jack cheese, thin salami, and fresh
tomatoes. Three minutes in my little press, and I had a lunch that would please
anyone. Seriously! I wish I had taken a picture of that sandwich to share with
you, but I had it wolfed down before I even thought about it.
Maybe next time.
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| Black olive tapenade is great for sandwiches. |
In the meantime, here’s the recipe for Easy Black Olive Tapenade:
¼ C. chopped black olives (I used canned olives but chopped
my own. I think you can buy canned chopped olives as well.)
1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
1 T. sea salt*
½ C. extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients together. Serve warm or cold. Use as a
spread for sandwiches or as dip for bread.
*You may want to reduce the amount of salt by half, and it
will still be delicious.
