Grilled Veggie Sandwich - and a challenge

Last night Uriah and I were talking about the job of blogging.  Obviously, this isn't a job for me, but there are some people who blog successfully for a living.  Uriah thinks it's a fake job.

I used The Pioneer Woman as an example; she blogs daily and her website gets about 22 million hits a month.  She's written two cookbooks, a children's book and a book about how she met and married her husband.  She's been on the Today Show and the Early Show.  She has a cooking show on FoodNetwork.  And she home-schools her kids in-between.  By most accounts she's a successful business woman.

He thinks she's a fluffy housewife who's husband supports her.

And that is when I get royally pissed-off.  The assumption he made is that a woman has to have a money-making husband to successfully work from home; that constantly coming up with creative ideas, photographs, editing, and writing is not really "work."  That having to promote yourself, maintain web-site content that keeps readers returning and manage advertisers is "easy."  I never thought my husband was a sexist moron before, but last night, I pretty much called him on it.

So, I challenged him to write a post on this blog next week.  He's going to make dinner, photograph it, edit it and write about it and I will post it here on Friday (provided he get's his writing and editing done on time!).  This will be an interesting endeavor...

In the meantime, while we wait for whatever Uriah is going to come up with next week, let me share with you this Grilled Veggie Sandwich, also known as my New Love.  Grilling season is upon us and I like to have Uriah grill up some extra veggies when we've got the grill going because a) they are healthy and b)  they are good so many ways.  Chop them up in an omelet, reheat them and use them as a side dish, eat them cold in a salad.  Or...make a Grilled Veggie Sandwich (which is what I do with them.).  

It's easy - you can make the veggies a couple of days in advance (menu planning!) and the sandwich itself goes together pretty quickly.  If you want to be a little bit more healthy (read: WW points healthy) you can use Sara Lee 40 Calorie Hamburger Buns instead of thick, crusty French bread and make individual sandwiches instead.  The process is the same.  And we all know how my husband feels about meat-less meals, so you can add some smoked turkey or ham to the sandwich as well.  Personally, I like it with just the grilled veggies.

•  2 zucchini, sliced into planks
• 2 yellow summer squash, sliced into planks
• 1 red onion, sliced into rings
• 1-2 cups mushrooms, whole
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into quarters
• 1 green pepper, seeded and cut into quarters
• Olive oil
• Herbs de  Provence*
• 1 loaf thick, crusty French Bread (not a baguette !)
• 2-4 tablespoons Grey Poupon mustard
• 10 slices provolone cheese

Preheat your grill.  Toss veggies with enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle generously with Herbs de Provence.   Once your grill his hot, place your veggies on the grill.  Allow them to roast for a few minutes – you want to get soft and have some nice grill marks, but you don’t want to burn them.  Flip them over and grill the other side.  The red onion will take longer than everything else, because you want it to get a little bit soft.  The pepper skins will probably bubble a little bit, that’s okay; once they're cool, if you don’t want that charred spot, you can peel it off.

Once your veggies are grilled, place them on a baking sheet and allow to cool to room temperature, then wrap them up with some plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator until your ready to use them.  They’re good for a couple of days.

To make the Grilled Veggie Sandwich, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Pull out a piece of foil large enough to completely cover your loaf of bread; set it aside – I had non-stick foil so I didn’t butter my foil at all, but if you have regular foil, you might want to put some olive oil or butter on it to ensure your sandwich doesn’t stick while baking; it doesn’t take a lot! 

Slice your French Bread completely in half the long way.  Slather both the top and the bottom with Grey Poupon mustard.  It’s a little bit grainy and gives the sandwich just the right amount of tang.  Place the bottom half of your sandwich on your foil, then commence with the sandwich building.

On the bottom side of your sandwich, over the mustard, overlap 5 slices of Provolone cheese.  Arrange your chilled veggies on top of the cheese.  Use as much of your grilled veggies as you want – the more the merrier!  Top your veggies with the remaining slices of Provolone followed by the top of the French Bread.  Carefully roll up the foil around the sandwich and press down a bit as you close the edges of the foil.  Make sure your sandwich is completely covered with the foil.

Place foil wrapped sandwich directly into the oven for about 35-45 minutes.  Check it at 35 minutes to see how melty your cheese is getting.  The more melty you want your cheese, the longer you need to leave it in there.  Once your sandwich has reached its desired melty-ness, take it out and let it sit for 5 minutes to make slicing it easier. 

Makes about 8 sandwiches, depending on how big you make your slices.

*Herbs de Provence is an herb mixture of savory, fennel, basil, thyme and lavender that can be found in the spice aisle.  You can also use it on fish and chicken.