Wow! This recipe is simply delicious! Amazingly simple and frugal without any meat, it is a perfect Summer dinner. We had Aaron’s brother Nathan over for dinner and both the guys loved it. That is pretty impressive for a meatless dish. I figured out the cost per serving to be approximately $0.97! That is definitely hard to beat! A great way to use those fresh vegetables that are in season right now. We served with a fresh ear of corn. Yum! This is definitely a keeper and will be added to our frugal and nutritious dinner meals!
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com, including a few tips from fellow reviewers. I made a few changes and additions to simplify, as original recipe was a little more complicated than necessary.
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice (I squeezed 1/2 of a fresh lime)
- 1/4-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 chopped bell peppers, any variety
- 1 small zucchini, sliced (we didn’t have zucchini so I doubled the yellow squash!)
- 1 red or white onion, sliced
- 1 small yellow squash, sliced
- bread of your choice – focassia or 6 burger buns
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2-3 tsp pesto
Slice up your veggies and soak in balsamic vineger for about 30 minutes, or longer if desired. You can grill veggies on the BBQ (as the original recipe recommended), but I prefer sauteing on the stove top in olive oil -quick and easy! Another option would be to broil them in the oven. Cut your bread in half and layer one side with the mixture of mayonnaise, garlic and lemon/lime juice, followed by a thin layer of pesto. Top the other side with a little mayo mixture and then the crumbled feta cheese (you don’t need very much feta to impart it’s wonderful flavor!). Broil this open faced in the oven for 3-5 minutes or so – keep a close eye to avoid burning! After broiling the bun, layer with your sauteed veggies and you have a wonderful veggie sandwich!
Makes 6 servings.
Here is a picture of my grilled bun!
What kind of buns do you use?
Could you share the almost topping you mentioned?
I just LOVE your blog! It has been a huge blessing to have found.
I am not sure what you are referring to. I read through the recipe again and didn’t see what you were referring to.
I will be making that for lunch tomorrow it looks great! Another super easy and delicious pesto recipe is this:
(didn’t really measure just added to taste/texture
Big bunch of fresh basil (about 2 cups)
About 1 cup fresh parsley
Sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (about 1/2 cup or so-in the oil)
plenty of fresh garlic (about 5 cloves or so)
handful of both walnuts and pine nuts
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
large dash of balsamic vinaigrette
large dash white cooking wine
olive oil-enough for consistency. About 1/2 or more
about 1/2 to 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
Blend well in food processor. It freezes nicely too!
These are my family’s new favorite sandwich! I used homemade pesto and burger buns, and raw cheddar instead of feta (I love feta, but we already had cheddar). For the vegetables, we added portabello mushrooms to the list. These things are heavenly! It might be good wrapped in a tortilla, too!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was wonderful! Reminded me of a sandwich I used to get at a shop in our downtown. Thanks for the recipe
Mmm. That looks good. Pesto is also delicious made out of cilantro or basil.
I like a similar recipe – only I made it as a wrap with a tortilla. I included sprouts and grilled eggplant and avocado/ mayo spread as well as the grilled peppers.
gonna try this bad boy!
Here’s the recipe I use courtesy of Rachael Ray of the Food Network. (gotta give credit to where it’s due) I went to get the recipe there, I eyeball most anything in cooking, hard to give out a recipe with an “oh just eyeball” kind of deal lol
2 c Italian flat leaf parsley
1-3 oz jar or 1/4 c pine nuts (aka pignoli nuts, walnuts can work too) (these can be found in the baking aisle)
1 clove garlic cracked away from skin
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarse black pepper
1 c grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. (Parmesean and Romano work too)
Combine in a food processor:
parsley, pine nuts, and garlic. Stream in about 1/4 c of the extra virgin olive oil. Remove parsley paste to serving bowl/plate. Stir in cheese, and add remaining extra virgin olive oil to combine.
I LOVE this recipe…I’ve made a lot of her food, and have yet to be disappointed.
Did you make your own pesto?
No, I have not tried making my own pesto. Do you have a recipe to share?
Oh, oh– just remembered– we also made a great sauce/topping from almonds! It turned out marvelous and was a nice alternative to mayonnaise. Anyway…. my two cents. Love ya, Lindsay.
Wow. These look so yummy. This will definitely be on my table in the near future. Found your blog this week and just wanted to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading it. Love your recipes, your approach to life, and your wisdom. So, thanks!
We make something very similar to this called Harvest Pie. The veggies are put in a single pie crust and then topped with a sauce very much like this recipe. We’ve used an awesome yogurt topping recently while trying to find a replacement for the mayo- and it turned out excellent.
yummy! It looks delicious.
Oh my word, this looks FABULOUS. Would you believe that I have just those vegetables ripe in the garden plus some leftover feta cheese? Just when I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner. God bless you, Lindsay, your timing is perfect.
Hugs, Anne