Strawberry-Turkey Panino

After an afternoon of jamming, I wanted a strawberry-themed lunch without resorting to a salad. Luckily, Southern Living had a recipe for a sandwich using fresh strawberries. I changed a little bit to suit my own needs and pantry, but the spirit of the sandwich remains the same.


I started with two slices of whole wheat bread and built my sandwich containing 5 slices of smoked turkey lunch meat, 1 slice of muenster cheese, 4 basil leaves, and three sliced strawberries. Be sure to keep the cheese to the outside and the berries and basil to the inside of the sandwich to get the cheese melty but the produce still whole.


For equipment, I used my George Foreman grill. No need to buy a separate panini press when a nearly ubiquitous Foreman grill works just as well. I buttered both sides of the sandwich to get a good crust and put the sandwich on for just a couple minutes.


In less than five minutes I made myself a hot and berry-licious lunch sandwich. The original recipe calls for brie instead of muenster, but I feel they both work well with the strawberries and the turkey. The cheese doesn't overwhelm the smokey flavor of the meat or the luscious berries. And the basil adds a fresh pop of licoriceness to add extra intrigue. I would recommend using a sturdier bread such as Italian when making the sandwich so it does not look quite as flattened as mine, but other than that this idea for a lunch is both simple and flavorful.

I don't like to harp on grammar since I'm sure I make all sorts of egregious errors, but it is worth noting something that has been bothering me for some time. The Italian word for "sandwich" is "panino." When plural, it becomes "panini." So if you are referring to a single grilled sandwich, it is a panino, not a panini. And, worst of all, "paninis" is not a word as it would be the same as saying "sandwhicheses." We all have our pet peeves and this just happens to be one of mine, so thanks for bearing with me.