Fajita Panini

Last Christmas I got a panini press. It's been ok - just trying to figure it out with as less mess as possible.

I also got/get the Food Network Magazine - It's been ok - just trying to figure that out with as less mess as possible, too. In each magazine they have little booklets that you can remove. In each booklet are 50 recipes - all focused on one thing such as, pasta sauce, pizza, after-school snacks, summer drinks, burgers, etc... (If I could just get these little booklets, and forget the magazine, I would!)

So, in their October 2010 magazine, Food Network inserted their booklet on..... 50 PANINI!

It totally rekindled my love for panini.

Last night I made Fajita Panini -

Yes. Fajita Panini.

I followed their instructions - which are so simple.

1. Brush the inside of a split sub (I used a crusty loaf of bread) with olive oil.

2. Fill with sliced grilled chicken (I used rotisserie chicken), sauteed peppers and onions, and shredded pepper jack cheese (I used sliced pepper jack).

3. Press and cook until golden.

So your list of ingredients looks something like this:

-- Sliced Chicken Breast (Rotisserie, Grilled, or even that kind you can find in the frozen section in the grocery store that's already cooked, you just reheat, do you know what I mean?)

-- Sliced Onions & Peppers (I used half of a red onion, a quarter of both red & green peppers)

-- Pepper Jack Cheese (sliced, shredded or slivered :))

-- Bread of Choice

-- olive oil for brushing

Then:

Heat your panini press. I heated mine to about 350 degrees. (if you are cooking on the stove, preheat a skillet with butter or oil to medium low. Add your sandwich, then press a heavy pan on top to weigh it down. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side -- that's all from FN Mag)

Sautee your onions and peppers in a little bit of olive oil (i used butter, yum), about 5-8 minutes.

It's really all about assembly after that. Put as much chicken, onions, peppers, cheese as you like. Press it like a panini and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese is melty.

I think next time I will put another slice of cheese on it - and I had cilantro, which I totally forgot to put on it. But I think it would have been so good in it, too.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!!