Summer vegetable sandwich

I know it has been really quiet here. For that I offer my apologies and propose to mend my errant ways. This summer is turning out way busier than expected and is keeping me away from what I should be doing, like blogging.

Now without further ado, I shall proceed to describe this summery vegetable sandwich. We are neck deep in summer squash through the CSA right now. Not that I am complaining. The summer squash can be super versatile, chopped into chunks that can be used in soups or pastas, grilled as a nice accompaniment or as in this recipe, grated into a vegetable medley. Along with the squash, I used other vegetables available at that moment, carrots, green peppers and a little bit of onion. The great thing about this recipe is you could add in whatever veggies you have on hand. It goes something like this: you grate up a bunch of veggies, you saute them with some garlic, add desired seasonings, then add a binder (boiled potatoes or breadcrumbs). You can then either shape these into patties and shallow-fry them or you can stuff the mixture between two slices of bread and convert it to a grilled sandwich. 

These grilled sandwiches are inspired by the ever popular Bombay chutney sandwich. This is the panini's Indian cousin, where thin sliced veggies (potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes) are layered on to thin slices of bread slathered with a spicy mint and cilantro chutney, then slapped on with butter and pressed into an individual sandwich press which is heated on an open flame. Heaven! My summer squash vegetable sandwich is tasty but not a patch on the original! It is going places though, it is my first entry to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted at this wonderful blog, The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Recipe:
2 summer squashes, peeled
2 medium sized carrots
1 green bell pepper
1/4 onion
1 cup corn
2 small potatoes, peeled and boiled
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chaat masala (optional)
1 tablespoon oil
- Grate all vegetables from squash through onion in a food processor or by hand. 
- In a pan heat the oil, when hot add the grated vegetables along with garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add the corn and saute for a few more minutes till vegetables are soft. 
- Mash the boiled potatoes and add to the vegetable mixture.
- Add the salt, black pepper and chaat masala if using.
- Butter slices of bread and add the vegetable mixture, cover with another bread slice and grill!

- Makes 3 cups of vegetable filling.