Looking for ways to make a quick and easy meal? You have to try a sandwich press!
Guest Post by Lizzy Ainsworth of Lizzy Ainsworth Books
Do you need a quick and easy way to make a meal?
Enter my café-style sandwich press
My family has moved house six times over the past six years, and this is one kitchen appliance that has seen us through thick and thin, even in a kitchen where we had a small kitchen bench and no stove or oven.
I use my sandwich press every day for so many different things.
There are a few sandwich press varieties; some pull apart and can be washed up, and others need a wipe over regularly without wetting electrical components.
I use my sandwich press to make pancakes for one or many, and I find that many coconut/ almond meal varieties that I can’t otherwise get to flip, seem to cook through well without burning and then flip easily.
It is great to make what my toddler calls a “flat egg,” and I regularly throw on some bacon, too.
And of course, where would we be without the café-style melt! Avocado, bacon, cheese and tomato would be one of my favorites, second only to a ham, cheese and tomato combination.
Pizza Quesadillas are what you make when you want pizza but don’t want to turn the oven on. Add your tomato sauce and pizza toppings and fold the wrap over on itself for a few minutes to cook. Slide out with an egg flip. We enjoy these as an easy dinner and one where we can all chop up the ingredients and make it together.
Warm Wraps are a nice alternative on a winter morning, and I often make a flat egg, some bacon, chopped up avocado, and stick it in a wrap with grated cheese for my husband. Hash browns, wedges or chips are really easy to warm up, and can add to a big breakfast, without taking too much extra time.
Tomatoes with grated cheese and thyme sprinkled on top, make a really nice side for any meal but especially a big breakfast.
I regularly stick a tray of sausages in my sandwich press as I otherwise seem to set the smoke alarm off when I cook them in my frying pan! My husband eats a lot of meat in a very physical job, so I cook up sausages at least once a week to have for use in curries, casseroles, or just in the fridge to add as a side to potato bake.
Fish Fillets are really quick to cook as you have heat from both sides going in, and you could add them to your salad, like Wellness Mama does with her Fish Taco Salad.
Finally, we use our sandwich press as a toaster for bread, raisin toast and the occasional crumpet. We actually don’t own a standard toaster, as we’ve found we don’t need it and it just takes up extra room on our small bench.
Spectacular salads for sandwiches
Do you need a quick and easy way to add some serious substance to your salad? I used to think putting together a salad was more work than a soup, and not always filling … but then I discovered a super easy way to bulk it out.
I love to serve healthy salads with my sandwiches. I start with a base of romaine, fancy or baby cos lettuce, though any will do, add some avocado, a few walnuts, sundried tomatoes, olives, crumbled feta or heaped tablespoons of cottage cheese and then add in my warm vegetables, which I’ve had toasting.
These vegetables literally only need a couple of minutes toasting, and they can include zucchini, sliced pumpkin, mushrooms, broccolini, fresh beans and asparagus, and we’re talking a serious salad.
You also could toast up some bacon bits or warm pre-cooked chicken pieces. Warming up these few vegetables and pieces of meat can really help transform a more summery meal into something that you’ll look forward to on a cooler evening.
For a different style you could try this on a bed of baby spinach or rocket and warm quinoa, with some chopped beetroot, oregano leaves and crumbled feta.
Use Herbs to add Zest and Extra Health Benefits
I love adding a selection of chopped up herbs and “weeds” from my garden to make my salad interesting and it’s a great way to get extra nutrients and flavors.
Trying Tabouleh
One dish that I don’t often see brought to potlucks is an herbed Tabouleh. You can use a base of brown rice or quinoa and then traditionally you would chop up a couple of ripe tomatoes, ½ red onion or a few shallots, and a bunch of parsley. I like to use curly parsley and blitz it in a food processor until finely chopped so that it doesn’t catch in your throat.
Season with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and taste frequently to achieve what you know your family will enjoy. You can stop there or keep bulking it out with the addition of finely chopped cucumber and your toasted beans. If you really want to make it a meal you can also add some avocado.
For extra flavor and zest you can sprinkle an Italian herb mix over the top or finely chop up garlic chives, which are so easy to grow and have on hand.
Salads are such a great way to bless a friend. I especially enjoy receiving a really healthy salad amidst all the pasta based dishes after having a baby.
Have you ever found an extraordinary use for your café-style sandwich press or one of your other kitchen appliances?
Lizzy Ainsworth is a wife and mother to two little girls in sunny Queensland, Australia. Her passion is reading and writing Resources to Nourish the Spirit, Soul and Body. She can often be found snipping herbs off to add to various dishes from pots of herbs that she’s lugged from house to house.
