Sunday, November 9, 2008

Asparagus Melt with Pesto Spread


I am definitely on an Asparagus kick this Fall. I just can't get enough of it! I had this recipe tucked away for about...um....7 years now! Yes, I can admit that to you. I remember tearing out of the magazine and thinking it looked good, and every once in awhile it resurfaced in my cookbook cupboard. It has been moved to new living quarters with me no less than 6 times, and still it remained. I knew it would headline at our dinner table someday.
Tonight was the night. I have been craving something gooey and warm and satifying like all the paninis I see advertised at sandwhich shops. However, I know they are high in fat and had been thinking about making a healthy version of a melt at home, when I came across this again.
This recipe is from the May 2001 issue of cooking light. I think it's going to get into the Fall rotation of recipes at the Colwill house. It's melty, and satifying, but doesn't leave you with that gut bomb feeling, because it's light and healthy somehow at the same time. This is definitely more dairy than I usually serve at a meal, but for a treat it was good.
You could easily make this on a busy weeknight folks. It was just a quick 2 minute steam of the asparagus, some slicing, and three minutes under the broiler. viola! dinner is served. And if you or someone in your house didn't like asparagus before, trust me, they will now!
The recipe and picture are from cookinglight.com.
My notes: I doubled this recipe for my family of 5, (and served it with a couscous salad on the side) except for the asparagus, I didn't double that. I put about 5 stalks on each sandwich, and used really big oversized oval slices of a whole wheat bread I got at Panera Bread. It seemed like the right amount of asparagus. I think that 8 pieces of asparagus on each sandwich would have been a bit much, unless you are able to get really slender stalks, which I wasn't able to find.

Yield
2 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)
Ingredients
16 asparagus spears
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1 tablespoon commercial pesto
2 (2-ounce) slices sourdough bread, toasted
2 (1-ounce) thin slices ham
4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
2 (1-ounce) slices part-skim mozzarella cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
preparation
Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Steam, covered, 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Preheat broiler.

Combine mayonnaise and pesto in a bowl, and stir with a whisk. Spread 2 tablespoons pesto mixture onto 1 side of each bread slice. Layer each slice with 8 asparagus spears, 1 ham slice, 2 tomato slices, and 1 cheese slice. Place on a baking sheet; broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with pepper.
Nutritional Information
Calories:
343 (30% from fat)
Fat:
11.5g (sat 4.3g,mono 4.7g,poly 1.1g)
Protein:
21.7g
Carbohydrate:
40.7g
Fiber:
2.8g
Cholesterol:
31mg
Iron:
3.6mg
Sodium:
1041mg
Calcium:
324mg
Cooking Light, MAY 2001

1 comment:

BeeARawFoodie said...

Good things come to Chefs who wait! It sounds as decadent as it looks -- what a treat to have you as Lead Chef in the Colwill home. I continue to be in awe.