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  Posted by Tatiana at 09/08/08 20:28:09

  I was actually gifted with a panini grill myself a couple years ago. My favorite thing to make on it is portobello mushrooms. I just marinate them in a little garlic and spices with a tad bit of oil then let them cook for a few minutes until tender. Something about pressing the mushroom gives it a great texture, and those grill marks are always fun. Just make sure you cook it open side up so the marinade stays inside and keeps the mushroom juicy.
  
  My panini maker also came with a cookbook, which has a surprisingly large number of vegan recipes. I haven't tried them yet, but here's a couple that sound tasty:
  
  Tomato Panini
  
  2 slices rustic whole grain bread
  extra virgin olive oil
  lemon juice
  salt/fresh ground pepper
  fresh basil and mint, chopped
  pinch of dried Meditteranean oregano
  finely chopped garlic
  1 medium ripe tomato, sliced
  
  Drizzle bread on one side with oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Then cover one bread with herbs and garlic then top with sliced tomato. Repeat with salt, pepper, herbs, and garlic. Cover with other bread and grill away!
  
  There's a ton more with mostly Meditteranean and Italian themes, with ingredients like olives, eggplant, artichokes, and a lot more. Sound tasty :)
  
  Here was an easy but tasty sounding dessert panini:
  
  2 slices country bread
  3/4 oz high quality bittersweet chocolate
  
  Cover one bread with the chocolate, stopping 1/2 inch before edge since it melts. Cover with other bread and toast!
  
  I think if you can use the grill pretty often then it would be worthwhile to keep it, there are definitely lots of fun vegan things to do with it, but if you think it will sit and just take up space, you could probably get something else with your store credit. I do like having mine, though. It's fun to toast sandwiches and grill veggies and tofu ^_^

  
  
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  Posted by gr8vegan at 09/08/08 20:34:22

  I would love a Panini grill! MCafe here in LA makes just the most ridiculously good Breakfast panini with scrambled tofu!

  
  
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  Posted by HM at 09/08/08 20:53:30

  :* I want a panini grill:(
  ugh... I'm hungry.
  Thinking I'm going to trot down... err... ride down to Proper Eats before they close.
  meow

  
  
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  Posted by kindlizard at 09/08/08 21:34:44

  Tatiana, do you then put the mushy into a samich and then grill the whole samich too? I have never had a panini samich (except at Veganopolis I'm told, but it was the morning after my wedding so I don't recall it at all). I don't know how they are supposed to turn out and the general points.... I get that it likely is like a toasted samich though. Thanks a ton for the recipe and good words, I think we're keeping it.
  
  Thanks y'all for the 2 cents. HM, let me know when you need one... does Proper Eats have Panini too?
  

  
  
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  Posted by HM at 09/08/08 22:53:54

  You know, I've never eaten in the cafe of Proper Eats. I've eaten their food at the vegan festivals and my work got me a vegan cheesecake for my birthday last October. I do my grocery shopping there since I just moved a short distance from there and it's closer than Food Fight or People's (where I shopped when I lived in SE). I still shop at FooFight when I'm ending my work day at a clients' house that lives down the street from there. Together they both have things that I live on. Food Fight has Quinoa and other things where as Proper eats has a large variety of organic/local veggies.
  I didn't end up going there tonight. By the time I was leaving I realized I'd be cutting it close so I went to the Bye and had a grilled cheese... ate half and brought the other half home for lunch tomorrow.
  

  
  
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  Posted by Tatiana at 09/08/08 23:42:37

  kindlizard - You could put the mushroom in bread and then toast that, but you definitely don't have to. You could just slice up the mushroom for a salad or whatever else you wanted to do with it. The panini grill is really just a double sided grill that is weighted to smoosh the food down a little bit. So while it is advertised for sammy smooshing, you definitely don't have to be limited to making sandwiches in it.
  
  I have more recipes so let me know if you want anything else, I can probably type out more for you ^_^

  
  
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  Posted by Tatiana at 09/08/08 23:45:38

  Oh and basically all a panini is a grilled/toasty pressed sandwich. That is the difference between that and a traditional toasted sandwich is the pressed part. Apparently, the actual word pannini or pannino is just a type of sandwich in Italian, it has just become synonymous with the pressed grilled sandwich in the US. Some of the sandwiches in the book I have aren't even grilled. (I got interested and just had to look it up, lol :P)

  
  
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  Posted by kindlizard at 09/09/08 01:07:11

  hey thanks tatiana. don't worry about doing that, seems like a lot of work and i have been able to get some reciipes on the web to get started, soon enough. my sis-in-law also had one, so she gave me some pointers, though she ain't vegan. but i think conceptually its coming together, THANKS for the help and advice