As the days get shorter and the evenings start to get that fall chill to them, I’m making an effort to squeeze in every last little bit of grilling that I want to do. These grilled vegetable sandwiches are an old favorite that I had forgotten about until recently. I’m really happy that I remembered them though, because they’re super simple to make and are full of fresh summertime flavors.
These sandwiches were inspired by a lunch that I had years ago at Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington, DC. It was before I really started to get interested in cooking (between work and grad school and planning my wedding I had enough to concentrate on), but I remember making the sandwich for dinner just a few nights later in my tiny little apartment kitchen — it might actually have been the first time I ever tried to recreate a restaurant meal at home! The sandwiches have evolved over the years and my memory of the original has gotten fuzzy – I only remember the portobello, pita, and fresh basil — but they are every bit as delicious as I remember them being.
Grilled Vegetable and Goat Cheese Pitas
Prep time: 5 minutes, Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 sandwiches
- 2 Tbs Olive Oil
- 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and quartered
- 2 Portobello Mushrooms
- 1 Zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
- 4 mini Pita Breads (or 2 larger breads split to form 4 rounds)
- 2 ounces Goat Cheese
- 2 Tbs roughly chopped Kalamata Olives (about 8.)
- Fresh Basil
Preheat grill, grill pan, or sandwich press to high.
Combine the oil and vinegar in a large mixing bowl. Add the peppers, zucchini, and portobellos and stir so that they are well coated. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Remove the red peppers from the marinade and place on the grill, skin-side down. Grill for 10 minutes. Add the zucchini and portobellos to the grill. Grill an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the zucchini and mushrooms are tender and the peppers are soft with a charred skin. Remove vegetables from the grill.
Spread 2 pitas with goat cheese and sprinkle with olives. Add one portobello, 2 pieces of pepper, half the zucchini, and some whole fresh basil to each sandwich. Top with the remaining pitas.
Lower the heat on the grill to medium. Return the sandwiches to the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes — just long enough to warm the bread.
To serve, but each sandwich in half.
*****
I’m submitting this recipe to Souper Sunday at Kahakai Kitchen.
I have BBQ Grill envy! I so love this sandwich idea… I can’t wait until I have a home with a grill again!
Grilled veggies are the best, and adding goat cheese is sublime!
These look fabulous and totally satisfying. Thanks for sending it to Souper Sundays–it’s always a pleasure to have you in the round up. 😉
Delicious! Wonderful Veggie treat!
Wow, that looks simply delicious and you can really tell that it’s healthy stuff, lol! Anyways, I’ll be trying this for sure. I love cheese but I also want to eat healthy. So I think this will be perfect after an indulging fondue party!
Yummy this looks so delicious, what a great healthy meal! 🙂
I am often looking for recipes for those portobellos!
Wow that is a thick, juicy slab of portobello! I love how simple this meal is, yet the flavors are spot-on and full of umami.
Easy and delicious. Goat cheese makes everything tasty. Especially great here since there is no meat.
Aren’t sweet potato fries perfect with just about almost everything? So are grilled veggies, I’m convinced. This looks delicious!