Sammie Night

Day 1 of weekday vegetarianism in the books! No cravings to speak of, but I was a little sluggish at the gym yesterday afternoon. It could be just a case of the "Monday's at the Gym" however.

As you saw yesterday for lunch I had the Tortilla Soup. Dinner this week will be a challenge because I have to feed my meat eating husband also. Monday's solution? Sammie night.

My sandwich wasn't all my own idea. I saw on an episode this weekend of Grill It with Bobby Flay a tasty looking vegetarian sub. He used grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella and garlic mayo to make a long sub on a French baguette.  I "Amanda-ized" mine by putting in my own favorite non-meat sandwich ingredients: Portobello mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and spinach, OH MY!

I had a chicken breast to grill for my husband to make his sandwich a carnivore’s delight so I grilled my portabellas along side after giving them a few minutes in a quick marinate.

My Kroger store didn't have whole Portobello’s so I had to go with a pre-sliced pack of them. (*sigh*, Kroger loves to derail my culinary train). I placed the mushrooms into a dish with some low sodium soy sauce, olive oil, and fresh pepper. Let the mushrooms sit for about 10-15 minutes. Mushrooms are like chicken in the carnivore world; they take on whatever flavors you add to them nicely. Portobello’s soak up marinates like a sponge.

After the soaked up all the flavor, I grilled for about 10 minutes over medium high heat, turning every few minutes. I used a grill pan to ensure they no tasty morsels would fall through the grill grates.

On to the bread. I used a multigrain baguette from Kroger and cut it into 4 equal parts; using two of those for our dinner last night. I know, I know, the waste!  But what is a household of two to do?  Those who cook for a two person household can relate to the frustration of extra food going to waste.  I’m optimistic I can use the other two parts another night this week.

*Does my talk of bread have you cringing at the thought of all those calories and carbs?  Use this tip: Take your fingers and run them up the inside cavity of the bread to hollow it out. This leaves two shells, better for sandwich stuffing and you save anywhere from 50-75 calories by scooping out the center of the loaf and trashing it. 

Hollowed out bread=LOWER CAOLIRES

After grilling the mushrooms and toasting the bread a bit on the grill I put my Vegetarian Sammie all together; topping it with two slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and a handful of spinach. No mayo needed here! The mushrooms pack a flavor punch with the soy sauce and olive oil.

I added a side of microwave steamer (frozen kind) vegetables to my plate and Sammie night is complete.

Note: If you struggle like I do to make sure you aren't ripping off you husband at dinner time with your food experiments, keep a few things in mind.  Do side items that both of you will eat in the same meal.  Last night my husband had a can of Bush's Baked Beans that I doctored up a bit (he loves them) and the same frozen vegetables as I did. The only way I had to alter my meal prep for him was to grill his chicken breast for his sandwich.

Make it easy on yourself to stick to your special diet (or vegetarian work-weeks, in my case) by planning meals that won't cause you to have to cook two meals at one time. Plus, you will end up feeling short-changed if you prepare a fatty carnivore feast for the Hubby while you nosh on spinach and rice cakes.