Recipe Ramblings and my Photography

Good Saturday morning to you all! It is such an incredibly beautiful day and I am loving the fall colors as I look outside my window. It is 360 degrees of beauty!

Now that the weekend is here, I feel like I have some time to catch up on last week's recipes. Recipe one was intended to be posted on Monday. I know you probably could care less about my excuses, but I have good reason. Reason number one I did not post my original picture was due to my Udi's bread totally falling apart into crumbs. Normally I've had pretty good luck with Udi's and sing its praise. This particular loaf was on sale. I now know why it was on sale. In the middle of the loaf was a huge air bubble hole. This would have worked great for the breakfast recipe I used to love as a kid, toads in the hole, but not for Grilled Pesto and Tomato Sandwiches. Thinking I could make them open-faced didn't work either as the bread absorbed much of the liquid and became very mushy. It was a sad sandwich situation my friends. Fortunately, I had another loaf in the freezer. It just needed to thaw overnight for use on Tuesday. This worked out much better. Mucho gracias to Rotella's Italian Bakery for their new gluten-free ancient grains bread!

No holes, no mushy sandwiches. I also am quite impressed with those lovely grill marks. What made me hesitant to post the picture on Tuesday you ask? Lighting. The days are shorter and by the time I come home, prep for the next day, and start cooking dinner there is no natural light left. My kitchen is pretty bright, but the lighting tends to have a yellowish tint that does not make for a very delicious picture unless you are working with bananas, lemons, or yellow squash. I plan to remedy this situation by building my own white box. I've been reading a lot about white boxes this past week. All it takes is a large cardboard box, some window film, white poster board, tape, and lights. With a little editing I am hoping this will help. Anyway, enough rambling. Here is the recipe. It is super simple.

Grilled Pesto and Tomato Sandwiches

8 slices whole-grain, gluten-free bread

2 tablespoons store bought pesto

4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

2-3 roma tomatoes

Preheat your panini press or grill pan to medium heat. Spread the pesto on four slices of bread. Layer the mozzarella and tomatoes. Top with the remaining slices of bread. Place on your panini press or grill pan. If you choose to press your sandwiches, grill for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese begins to melt. If you are using a grill pan, grill for 2-3 minutes on one side. Then, flip and grill for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the press or grill pan, slice in half, and serve.