Turkey Honey-Dijon Panini

This turkey sandwich was supposed to be a lean accompaniment to the slightly high-carb watercress soup in the previous post, but all my good intentions flew out the window when I saw the slab of bacon while shopping for the turkey. I find it hard to say no to bacon and after assembling my sandwich this way, I would not have it any other way.

Turkey Honey-Dijon Panini

Ingredients:

• French sourdough bread loaf, thickly sliced ( I got mine at Bizu and had them slice it)
• Swiss cheese, thinly sliced (I used Emmental)
• Hickory-smoked turkey, shaved
• Bacon, thickly sliced and fried until crispy
• Honey dijon dressing (below)

-Brush the outside of the top and bottom halves of your sandwich with a little olive oil.

-Flip the bread slices over and generously cover the other side (the inside) of both halves with the honey dijon dressing.

-Layer on the cheese on both halves.

-Loosely pile on the turkey on the bottom half of the sandwich and top with crispy bacon.

-I had more watercress and so added this to the assembly.

-Put both halves together and press in a panini grill until cheese is melted and the exterior of your sandwich is toasted to your liking.

-Eat hot off the grill!

Honey Dijon Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/4 cup Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 T Dijon mustard

-Whisk ingredients together in a bowl or shake in a tightly covered container.

-Whisk or shake before using.

-Store in the refrigerator.

In addition to the soup and sandwich, my neighbor Jo, who joined me for lunch brought a nice caprese salad of sliced salad tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and a generous chiffonade of italian basil dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette and freshly cracked pepper. Satisfyingly, the salad went very well with the turkey panini sandwich.