Pressed Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

News alert!!: The Roady fam recently acquired a grill. Big deal!

Let me explain.

When I think of grilled food at the Roady household, I think of super cheap, discount, Albertsons tri-tip steaks, charred until they were black. I think of the charcoal dust left on my plate. I think of the taste of a propane grill. I think of mass amounts of ketchup to replenish lost moisture to the grey, chewy "steak".

This was my childhood, before I stopped eating meat (beef+pork+other cuties) in 9th grade. I felt sad for cows. Plus I was chunkers and wanted to slim down so I could be cool. (Didn't really work that way). I didn't eat meat again until high school graduation, when I had legit tri-tip. (PS I worked at a BBQ restaurant for about six months before I tasted their meat dishes... joke's on you, Bandits!).

And so basically my experience with home-grilled food has been minimal.

Except for a short stint with a little red Weber found on the sidewalk in my studio apartment days.  It was missing a handle, so I burned myself several times on that thing before I returned it to the curb.

I tried to find a picture of the red weber grill, but all i found worth sharing was this picture of sprinkles when she was FAT sitting on the same porch that the grill lived on. Same difference? Look how fat she was!! She's half that size now... Le sigh.

Oh, and I've had much experience with George Foreman grilling... or... countertop attempts at burning down various apartment dwellings.  Does George-ing count as grilling? I'm counting it.

That's my grilling resume.

But now I can give that whole grilling thing another shot. And I did. And it all started with vegetables. Marinated in balsamic. Add some goat cheese. Some chewy crusty bread. Smush it all together. Have a yum party in your mouth.

Pressed Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches
for six


1 large loaf of crusty whole wheat bread
4 oz. goat cheese
1 small eggplant, sliced into 1/2" discs
2 small zucchini, sliced on a bias, 1/2" thick
2 bell peppers, cut into 4 slabs
1 large yellow onion, sliced in 3/4" slices
2 portabella mushrooms
1 bottle balsamic vinaigrette dressing of your choice
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
pinch o salt

Slice up those veggies and place them in a large baking dish.
Soak them in salad dressing, additional balsamic, and salt. I think bottle vinaigrettes are typically too sweet, not enough balsamic. YOU be the judge, boss. Let em chill for 10 minutes.

Heat up that grill.

Grill in this order, depending on grill top real estate: bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, eggplant.

Pour off marinade into a bowl and brush veggies while grilling. I turned each veggie 4 times to get cross grill marks on each side. And a little of that char that I like? from my childhood.

Meow.

When everybody is all charred up, bring em inside. I sliced the mushrooms and peppers for dainty ladylike chewing.

Slice crusty bread in half.

Scoop out excessive bread guts. Note: this makes excellent olive oil-dipping bread for another time.

Using the back of a spoon, spread goat cheese on both slices of bread. Make sure to go all the way to the edges, nobody likes a cheeseless bite. Ever.

Layer your veggies. I don't know if you know this, but I studied architecture for like 2.5 seconds, so I'm really good at building things. Like sandwiches. ?

Put the pieces together. Put a little pressure on it so get everything all squished together. You could wrap in foil and place under a brick, turning every 10 minutes for 40-60 minutes for maximum cohesiveness. But I just ate it.

Slice with a serrated knife. Chow down.

If it weren't for all the goat cheese I snacked on while assembling this sandwich, it would have been super healthy!