Recipe: Grilled Vegetable and Goat’s Cheese Sandwiches 

Recipe by Nettie Cronish and Cara Rosenbloom, co-authors of Nourish

This recipe incorporates crunchy bread, melted goat cheese, tender grilled vegetables and a smooth garlicky pesto that make this a must-eat dish for sandwich lovers.

Ingredients:

Pesto
50 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1.5 litres (6 cups) chopped Tuscan kale
50 ml (1/4 cup) chopped walnuts
30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh lemon juice
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) sea salt
410 ml (14 oz) can of cannellini beans, no-salt-added
50 ml (1/4 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
50 ml (1/4 cup) fresh basil leaves

Grilled vegetables
1 Japanese eggplant, cut into 6 mm (1/4”) thick slices
1 zucchini, cut into 6 mm (1/4”) thick slices
1 red pepper, cut into 5 cm (2”) strips
30 ml (2 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
1 ml (1/4 tsp) sea salt
0.5 ml (1/8 tsp) freshly ground pepper

Sandwiches
8 slices whole grain bread or baguette
250 ml (1 cup) baby arugula
130 g (4.5 oz) soft goat cheese

Directions:

1. To prepare the pesto, in a large pan, add 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of olive oil and garlic. Once sizzling, add kale and sauté for five minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Add the kale to a food processor bowl, along with the remaining oil, walnuts, lemon juice, beans, Parmesan and basil. Pulse all the ingredients together until the mixture becomes creamy.
3. Adjust the salt and lemon juice to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. Excess quantity can be stored for three days.
4. To prepare the grilled vegetables, preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
5. Brush the eggplant, zucchini and red pepper with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
6. Grill until just tender — about eight minutes for the eggplant and zucchini, and ten minutes for the pepper.
7. To prepare the sandwiches, start by toasting the bread.
8. Spread 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of pesto on each of the four slices of bread.
9. Lay slices of the eggplant, zucchini and red pepper atop the pesto.
10. Divide arugula evenly between sandwiches.
11. Spread 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) of goat’s cheese over each of the four remaining bread slices. Place cheese, side down, on sandwiches.