Vegetarian Hero

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* Exported from MasterCook *

 

Vegetarian Hero

 

Recipe By : Kay Rentschler

Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : 9/17/03 San Jose Mercury News

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

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1/4 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin) -- divided use

4 thin slices lemon

2 garlic cloves -- peeled

1 medium white or yellow onion in 1/2-inch rings

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar

1 large red pepper -- seeds and pith removed, in 1/2 "

rings

2 Italian eggplants in 1/2-inch slices

1/4 cup mayonnaise

10 green olives -- pitted and chopped

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme -- minced

4 squares focaccia or similar flatbread -- (4 inch) sliced

in two horizontally

1 large ripe tomato -- sliced

4 ounces semisoft cheese such as Bel Paese -- provolone,

mozzarella, Muenster or young Gouda, thinly sliced

8 large basil leaves

4 leaves romaine

 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low

heat. Add lemon, garlic and onion but keep separate. Turn lemon and

garlic frequently to soften; leave onion rings unturned. After about 3

minutes, transfer lemon and garlic to paper towels and set aside.

Increase heat to medium-high; turn onions and cook until soft and

golden. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Add vinegar and glaze

onions. Transfer to a plate.

 

Place pepper rings in same skillet in a single layer and coat with any

remaining vinegar in skillet. Turn peppers, sprinkle with salt and

pepper and cook until just beginning to soften. Transfer peppers to a

separate plate.

 

Wipe skillet with paper towel and return to high heat. Brush eggplant

slices on both sides with remaining olive oil. Add to hot skillet in a

single layer and cook, turning occasionally, until deep brown on both

sides, 7 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and transfer to

paper towels.

 

While eggplant browns, chop reserved garlic and lemon and stir it into

mayonnaise along with olives and thyme. Season to taste with salt and

pepper.

 

To build sandwiches: Spread focaccia slices with mayonnaise. Layer

onions, peppers, eggplant, tomato, cheese, basil and romaine in an order

that pleases you. Cut and serve immediately.

ARTICLE: Vegetables: our heroes MEAT WON'T BE MISSED IN CLEVERLY

CONSTRUCTED SANDWICHES

By Kay Rentschler - New York Times News Service

Patrick Tehan - Mercury News

Baguette with tapenade, grilled pepper and fontina shows the potential

of a big sandwich made minus the meat.

In a vegetable sandwich, vegetables are capable of fine ensemble work.

The trick is to create a pleasing group dynamic -- flickers of flavor, a

nuance of texture, bands of color -- and then select a type of bread to

enhance the overall composition. The best part? You get to eat

vegetables with your hands.

The question of bread is a good place to start. Flour tortillas, being

thin and pliant, are the near-perfect wrap for shaved or messy

vegetables, allowing their flavors to mingle but not run down your arm.

Baguettes or chunky loaves are fine for well-behaved and slender

fillings, and for those that aren't too slippery. If it is layered

vegetables you are after, rugged artisanal bread will be too cranky to

be much help: The vegetables are apt to slide away and deconstruct back

to a salad.

Focaccia walks a tasty middle ground. Cushy but far from spineless,

focaccia possesses structure, flavor and heft, allowing vegetables to

climb to a stately height without bearing down on them like a schoolyard

bully.

Amid the bounty of end-of-summer vegetables, a few have the wherewithal

to become the star of a sandwich. Roasted or grilled eggplant or

mushrooms top the list and are courteously non-slippery enough to thwart

an avalanche.

 

Panko-breaded slices of pattypan squash fried to a shaggy crispness, or

bronze-roasted endive halves, can kick off an extravaganza just as

successfully.

 

In the raw department, crisp, knobby vegetables are best shaved or even

grated, but softer raw vegetables take to a slice or a dice.

 

A vegwich needs well-placed accents, and that is where tomatoes, onions

and peppers come in: raw, roasted or grilled. Crisp, sweet summer onions

such as Vidalia or Walla Walla should be raw and just sliced; common

storage onions need to be softened with heat.

 

Raw garlic should not come out punching, but its raciness, in

moderation, is generally welcome. Roasted or toasted garlic creates

depth rather than bite. Roasted peppers, peeled and dressed, are hard to

beat; if it is crunch you are after, leave them raw.

 

Sandwiches enjoy a bit of green, of course -- snappy or peppery, take

your pick -- or fresh herbs instead. Pickle slices are not out of place,

nor are a few slices of semisoft cheese.

 

In the category of finer points, simple oil and vinegar cannot be

overlooked: Vegetables look pretty naked but taste better dressed.

 

Going Mediterranean? Think tapenade. In the cool world of cucumbers,

tomatoes, lettuce and mint, a layer of lemony, garlicky hummus will be

welcome.

 

Smokiness induced by chipotle, smoked paprika, even the heat of a little

jerk seasoning will quicken the pulse of a vegetable sandwich.

Oven-roasted Belgian endive in flowing smoked Gouda with chipotle

mayonnaise is a fine sandwich specimen, as is fried breaded squash and

jerk with mango chutney.

 

A vegetable sandwich is not about privation: It is about getting

vegetables together and letting them be themselves.

 

It may come as a pleasant surprise to learn that you did not need meat

in the first place.

Source:

" SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/17/03 "

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 144 Calories; 13g Fat (68.9%

calories from fat); 2g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5mg

Cholesterol; 179mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Vegetable;

1/2 Fruit; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.