And although I love my son-in-law and grandson to pieces, sometimes I just need a little girl time with my daughter. But she's a busy wife and mom now, and our hanging out time together is not as often as I'd like. We're due for a day out together, a day for window shopping and real shopping, laughing until we can't breathe, texting each other from across the store to say "OMG! COME AND SEE THESE SHOES!" and eating just what we want to with no men to turn their noses up at our restaurant choice.
We love Panera Bread. The guys in our life, not so much. They're more Five Guys Burgers people. "Panera Bread? Meh." That's what they say. But my girl and I love it and we're crazy about the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich, so I came up with a copycat recipe for when we are stuck at home. This did not disappoint. Nice and healthy and full of flavor, thanks to the cilantro-jalapeno hummus.
Dear Amber,
Let's go shopping soon.
Love,
Mom
Here are my notes:
-I think the biggest lesson I learned from making this sandwich is that the hummus really needs to be made in a food processor, not a blender. But a blender is all I have, so I made it work, but not without a lot of smoke and weird sounds.
-I used potato bread for this, because I couldn't find a tomato-basil bread like Panera uses.
-This sandwich just screams summer to me. Love it.
-No peppadew peppers here, so I substituted with an Anaheim chili.
-You could totally adjust the heat of the cilantro hummus by increasing the amount of jalapenos or by leaving the seeds in. I am a wimp so I just used a single jalapeno with no seeds.
-The amount of cilantro can be adjusted too.
Cilantro-Jalapeno Hummus
6 tablespoons
lime juice
2 tablespoons
water
2 garlic cloves
2 (15.5-ounce)
cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 teaspoons
kosher salt
1/3 cup tahini
(sesame paste)
1-2 jalapenos,
seeded and chopped (leave seeds for more heat)
1/4 to 1/3 cup coarsely
chopped cilantro
Place ingredients
in order listed in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add more water if necessary to thin out to
spreadable consistency. Store in fridge.
Copycat Mediterranean
Veggie Sandwich from Panera Bread
Potato bread or tomato-basil sandwich style bread
Cilantro-Jalapeno
Hummus
Feta cheese
crumbles
Tomato slices
Cucumber slices
Red onion slices
Peppadew or
Anaheim chili slices
Lettuce leaves
Spread one side
of a bread slice with the hummus.
Sprinkle with feta cheese, then add veggies and top with another slice
of bread that has been spread with hummus.
Posts
Looks delicious! I think I may have to steal it as well!
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet post. My son will be going off to Culinary School in Sept. I'm going to miss him! : ( This sandwich sounds delicious especially the Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus. Never thought of putting hummus in a sandwich but it totally makes sense.
ReplyDeleteHummus has been on my brain for the past few days. It’s perfect in this hot weather with crudités. Yum. This sounds perfect because I like hummus and I love cilantro. This is on my must make list for this weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt looks very tasty!
ReplyDeleteI love that sandwich at Panera, it's one of my go-to orders. It's definitely the Hummus that makes it! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI love this sandwich. Do you have a Publix where you live? They have the Publix brand jalapeno cilantro hummus. Its right in the same section where they keep their coleslaw, baked bean and potato salad (right next to the deli). It is very tasty! Sometimes I'll just eat the hummus by itself. I use crackers and cucumbers to dip.
ReplyDeleteThe Mediterranean veggie sandwich is my very favorite - I even got my picky 11 year old to try it today. Go figure - he LOVED it. Since we live over an hour away from the closest Panera, this recipe will come in very handy. Can't wait to try it - thanks for posting such a tasty looking clone!
ReplyDeleteI work at panera I had the med veg for the first time yesterday grilled on our paninni presser I actually have to say it was very good
ReplyDeleteHi- Just wanted to put in my two cents. I ordered the mediterranean veggie sandwich today in Dallas. Imagine my surprise when the bread was sweet, and I mean SWEET. I called the store later to let them know, and they told me that it was their tomato basil bread. With sugar and CINNAMON I asked? Yes, that is correct. I dislike very few food items, but cilantro jalapeno hummus, cucumber, feta cheese and basil spread do not mix well with cinnamon and sugar. It was absolutely dreadful.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about the bread but give it another chance by substituting with another bread. I usually order the sand which on sourdough bread, it's delicious!
DeletePanera's mediterranean veggie sandwich is one of the very few things I like when eating out.The cilantro,jalepeno, peppers and feta flavors perk me right up. and I like the tomato basil bread too. everything is just perfect and it would be great if I could make it at home. That is how I landed on your site and your recipe looks so promising, thank you so much for being a fan and sharing. Next time I buy cilantro, I know what I'am going to do.And yea, a great post, I'm coming back.
ReplyDeleteThulasi