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She’s back in her bed, sleeping soundly for her nap. The thunder has subsided, for now, but the rain continues. Days like these call for something hot for lunch. Something that will warm your body and comfort your soul.
When Tim unexpectedly made it home for lunch, I knew I needed something warm and something fast. The salad that was on the meal plan was immediately disregarded and this panini was born. I served it along side some tomato and roasted red pepper soup I had and it was a perfect lunch for a cold, rainy afternoon.
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Hot Lunch in a Hurry: Spinach-Artichoke Panini
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
A quick and easy hot lunch
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups lightly packed fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
- 1 heaping tablespoon julienned sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil, oil drained)
- salt and pepper
- shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
- 4 pieces whole-grain bread
- olive oil cooking spray
Instructions
Preheat your panini press. If you don’t have a panini press, you can still make this sandwich. Grill it like you would a grilled cheese, but add a heavy skillet to the top of it while it is grilling.
In a medium pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the spinach.
Stir until it wilts enough that you can’t believe you started with 2 cups (this should only take about a minute).
Stir in the artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes.
Sprinkle the mixture with salt and pepper and stir until the artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes are heated thoroughly.
Spread half of the mixture on one slice of bread and the other half on another. Top each mixture with cheese, if using.
Close the sandwiches with the remaining two slices of sandwich bread.
Spray the outside of the bread with the olive oil cooking spray. Cook the sandwiches in the panini press until it is crispy and the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Slice in half and serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: main meal
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 310
- Sugar: 4.5g
- Sodium: 1264mg
- Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 44g
- Protein: 13g
Tim and I both loved this. Tim, of course, had one caveat he wanted to make known. While he thought the panini was tasty, he thought it would be much heartier with some cooked chicken added in the mix. Next time, I suppose, I could do that for him. I thought it was great without any meat, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t a vegetarian meal I make that Tim doesn’t think would be improved with some meat added in. Still working on perceptions over here.
I didn’t think this was a Meghan-friendly panini, so she had a green grilled cheese instead. We all got our spinach in for lunch! 🙂
Now I am going to spend the rest of Meghan’s nap cuddled with a blanket and a book. Maybe I like rainy days after all.
The globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus)[1] is a variety of a species of thistle cultivated as a food. The edible matter is buds that form within the flower heads before the flowers come into bloom. The buds go away or change to a coarse, barely edible form when the flower blooms. The uncultivated or wild variety of the species is called a cardoon. It is a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region.*
Up to date posting on our web page
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This looks to healthy and the combination is mouth-watering. Will have to try on the little one…we havent quite tried artichokes on her…
Please let me know if she likes it!
Looks like a delicious sandwich! Paninis are the best!
Mmmmm, love spinach and artichoke anything!
Looks really good! Also, love your tomato and pepper soup besides it! 🙂
Looks delicious. I saw sun-dried tomatoes at the store the other day, and I wanted to buy them so bad but didn’t have a reason to. Now I do!
I love sun-dried tomatoes! You can add them to so many dishes and they are oh so good.
Ohhh my! That panini looks crazy delicious!!! Love this!
Great blog; happy I found you!
Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls
Thanks, Mary! I’m happy you found me, too. 🙂
This looks seriously fantastic. Mmmm!
Yum! I love artichokes but I haven´t tried giving them to Vera yet. Not the most toddler-friendly food but she loves olives so who knows…
You never know! I chickened out and didn’t even try to give it to Meghan. Maybe next time.
my husband would love this – he loves artichokes!
green grilled cheese, another recipe I am dying to see! I love all the fun flavors!
hey, Mama! 😀
glad you stopped by my blog today – I’ve been browsing yours since and just added you to my reader!
this sandwich looks PERFECT – exactly my style. I love spinach and sun dried tomatoes… Mmm, flavor!
Thanks, Kristina. 🙂 I added you to my reader, too. I love your blog!
Jason is the same way. He always thinks that my veggie meals could be improved with meat.
Now thats a power lunch! I’ll take 1/2 and some of your veggie soup please! <3
Ohhh, this looks delicious! Definitely treasure those times with Meghan. My youngest starts Kindergarten in the fall and I honestly cannot believe how fast the time went. They both grew up faster than I ever thought possible.
Yummy!!! I will have to wait for our next cool day for this in Phoenix. I may have to wait until October though!
Hahaha! I used to live in Phoenix, so I feel you.
Yah, it’s been in the 90s all week! But it still sounds good, so I may have to break down and eat it early!