Pretzel paninis

I have to admit something to you. I am a full fledged, card toting, flag flying member of the Trader Joe's fan club since it's come to Des Moines. I mean, I love me some Whole Foods, but TJ's is just more affordable and easier to navigate in my world. They have such fun little surprises for me when I walk the aisles too. Like these mini loaves of pretzel bread....say whaaaaaaat!? How absolutely, disgustingly adorable enough to make you go "awwwww" in the middle of the store and put them in your basket with no clue how you plan to use them, just that it's going to happen.

 

Then you go home and show off your glorious bounty to your Main Man and he states (very unexcitedly compared to your current level of energy) that he can't eat pretzel bread. Got sick off those warm, salty pretzels one time when he was younger and can't stomach them anymore. Way to rain on my parade, duder....

 

Luckily, I had some ciabatta bread on hand for his panini and that meant that I got two pretzel paninis to myself...when I realized his hatred meant a lunch date for me with an adorable sandwich the next day, I stopped arguing with him about his crazy and offensive dislike for the cutest loaves I've ever seen. I should feel lucky that the only things I have to worry about omitting from recipes include coconut, sloppy joes, peas, and now pretzels. I hate two of the four anyway, so it all works out. I shall eat my pretzel bread all by my lonesome. Everyone's got their cross to bear....

 

Down to business! I had all the other ingredients on hand and threw these babies together in no time flat. I'm a huge fan of grilled apples since my friend Mrs. Mohr introduced me to them on the salmon apple blt's (which I need to make again soon, judging by the way my mouth started foaming when I saw those pictures) and I haven't looked back since. I also have a certain loyalty to the garlic pepper mayo from the ham asparagus panini. You should be beginning to see how this pretzel panini was born. Here's what you need:

2 pretzel loaves
1 large apple (we keep honeycrisp on hand)
2-4 large slices of pepperjack cheese, depending on how cheesy you like it
6-8 slices black pepper turkey breast
4 T mayo
1 large garlic clove, minced
cracked pepper to taste

Mix the cracked pepper, minced garlic, and mayo together and spread evenly onto your sammies. Turn your Griddler (or grill pan) on and use some Pam to prevent stickage. Slice your apple in thin slices and lay the slices onto the Griddler to get little grill marks on them.

Layer half your cheese on the bottoms, them layer your apples, then your turkey, then the other half of your cheese, and top the sammy with your garlic mayo infused pretzel top (how yummy does "garlic mayo infused pretzel top" sound??). Now you're in business!

Throw those things on the Griddler on medium-high for 20 minutes or so, keeping an eye on them when the cheese starts melting out...

And serve. And love your life. And wish you didn't have another one in the fridge tempting you to take bites of it every time you walk by.

Happy Tuesday, all! I'm actually adapting very well to my routine after vacation last week, I think I was ready to get back in the swing of things. Hot yoga last night was life changing, I needed to sweat out a couple of the cruise buffets something awful! I'm pretty excited about lighter dinners this week too! I made the spinach artichoke chicken quinoa that I had frozen for dinner last night, and it was lovely (although Brudder Ben wasn't a fan), and tonight we're trying buffalo chicken lettuce wraps out for size! I'll report back...enjoy your week!

**I was kindly told by Main Man that I've embarrassed myself immensely by misspelling "pretzel" throughout the whole post (I thought "pretzal" looked funny) so I've not edited this entry. Then I found the spellcheck button. Lifechanging.**