Alicia Silverstone’s cookbook The Kind Diet is chocked full of delicious recipes…the Sicilian Collard Greens with Pine Nuts and Raisins and Peanut Butter Pie are out of this world. Oh, and they are both vegan…all of the recipes in Ms. Silverstone’s book are meat and dairy free.
With a surplus of dairy free cheese at our disposal, the Galaxy team decided to take on a few of her recipes and the one for Waffle, Sausage, and Cheese Panini we loved, loved, loved. The sweetness, savory heartiness, and best of all…how easy it was to make. Whatever you do, don’t let the ingredients list intimidate you. Maybe jam and Vegenaise don’t sound like they would taste good together, but they really do. We found ourselves digging in at dinner and making more for lunch the next day (today). So delicious, so easy. Enjoy!!
Waffle, Sausage, and Cheese Panini from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet
Ingredients:
4-6 (1 to 1.5 ounce) Italian-style soy sausages
1/3 cup fruit-sweetened apricot jam
1/4 cup Vegenaise
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 frozen whole grain waffles, toasted
4 Tbsp oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 1/2 cups arugula
4 slices vegan mozzarella (Try Galaxy’s Vegan Mozzarella Slices)
Cook the sausage according to package directions until browned in a large skillet. Transfer the sausage to a cutting board, and when cool enough to handle, slice each sausage in half lengthwise and then in half crosswise.
Stir together the jam, Vegenaise, thyme, and pepper in a small bowl.
Wipe out the skillet you cooked the sausages in and place over medium heat, or preheat a panini press or countertop grill. Spread each waffle with 1 Tbsp jam mixture. Sprinkle sun-dried tomatoes over 4 waffles and layer each sandwich with arugula, 1 cheese slice, and one-quarter of the sausage slices. Top each sandwich with the remaining waffles.
Brush the heated pan, panini press, or grill with oil. Add the sandwiches, and cook 3 to 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted, making sure to turn the sandwich once if you are using the skillet method. Cut the sandwiches in half, and serve.
Note: Use a second skillet weighted with a heavy can or two to press the sandwiches as they cook to re-create the panini press effect in your skillet.
Yield: 4 servings
