Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

When I told my husband I wanted to make these, he was a bit hesitant, especially when he was at the fruit market with me buying the ingredients.  “Eggplant????  Zucchini???”  To which I replied, “Okay I will nix the eggplant and go with summer squash”.  “Squash???!!”  I had to encourage him to trust me… it would all be fine. 

To his surprise, my husband actually really enjoyed these sandwiches.  They were very tasty!  I used a large loaf of ciabatta bread for the bread, rather than the French bread listed in the recipe.  We gave these sandwiches the “thumbs up”.  Delicious, tasty, and healthful!  Happy eating!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

from myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  light mayonnaise
• 1  tablespoon  minced fresh basil
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 3  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  red bell pepper, cut into eighths
• 1  (1-pound) eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1  sweet onion, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1  zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
• Cooking spray
• 1  (8-ounce) loaf French bread, cut in half lengthwise
• 6  (1-ounce) slices part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Preparation

Prepare grill.

Combine mayonnaise and minced basil; cover and chill.

Combine oil and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Add bell pepper, eggplant, onion, and zucchini to dressing mixture; toss vegetable mixture well to coat.

Place bell pepper and eggplant on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes. Add onion and zucchini; grill 5 minutes. Turn vegetables often, baste with dressing, and cook just until tender. Remove from grill, and keep warm.

Place bread on grill, cut side down, and grill 2 minutes. Turn bread, cut side up, and place half of cheese slices on bottom half of bread. Grill 1 minute or until cheese begins to melt.

Spread mayonnaise mixture over top half of bread. Top bottom half with vegetables, remaining cheese slices, and top half of bread. Cut crosswise into fourths.