You have a fridge full of a bit of that, a bit of this. You have some fresh focaccia you picked up on the way home. Wouldn't it be great to eat a veggie-based meal today, but you're are not feeling inspired... Never fear, Roasted Veggie Sandwiches are here!
So about that focaccia. I know you can buy some good stuff pretty much in every city. If you feel inspired, try your hand at making your own. Of all of the breads in this world, focaccia is one of the easiest. Here's a favorite recipe of ours: Susie's focaccia. If you are opting to make your own (which I hope you try!), you can roast the veggies along with the baking focaccia and save yourself some time.
This is sort of a non-recipe in that the rest of the ingredients below are just suggestions. If you happen to have brussel sprouts and cauliflower instead of carrots and broccoli, give it a try. If you only have a couple heads of cabbage, slice 'em up and roast them. Add peppers to the mix, or whatever you feel the urge to throw in there. Roasted veggies are incredibly tasty, and the oven is very forgiving; you can roast pretty much anything and it'll be good.
The other nice thing about this non-recipe is it is assemble-your-own. Maybe one of your kids doesn't like it when food touch each other, or the other REALLY loves avocados. Let them be the artist of their own plate. You never know, it might very well inspire them to try a bit of a formerly-feared veggie!
You can make all of the elements of this ahead of time. You can make all of this ahead of time and take it on a picnic. You can use it for packed lunches. You can use the crema alone for a dip for other things. I mean, this is a non-recipe after all, and you should use it as you please.
Roasted Veggie Sandwiches with Avocado Crema
Servings: 5-6
Ingredients
Roasted Veggies
1.5 pounds of broccoli, cut into smallish florets
1.5 pounds carrots, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 pound plum tomatoes, cut into smallish-chunks (each into 8 pieces or so)
5 garlic cloves, smashed and then thinly sliced
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper
grated zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
Avocado crema
2 avocados
2 T plain greek yogurt
1 Anaheim pepper (or your favorite medium-spicy pepper. If you have something super spicy on hand, just remove the seeds and ribs to reduce the heat)
1 garlic clove, smashed, and soaked for a few minutes in cool water to reduce the bite
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
freshly ground pepper
For serving
Focaccia, cut into sandwich sized slices, and then split horizontally
Favorite cheese, such as sharp or extra-sharp cheddar, gruyere, or Manchego, thinly sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking pan with foil or parchment.
Pile the cut up veggies and garlic, in the middle of the pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat well. Spread the veggies over the surface of the pan evenly. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
Roast the veggies 25 - 35 minutes or until starting to brown and caramelize.
Once the veggies are done to your liking, remove the pan from the oven and grate the lemon zest over the pan. Squeeze the juice over the surface; toss to mx well. Set veggies aside until ready to assemble your sandwiches.
Make the avocado creme
In a food processor, add avocados, yogurt, chili, soaked and drained garlic, salt, Aleppo and pepper. Blend until smooth and mostly chunk-free. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Set aside until ready to assemble your sandwiches.
For serving, slice your focaccia in half horizontally. Spread top and/or bottom with the crema. Pile on the veggies. Add thin slices of cheese. Top with focaccia and enjoy!