Cilantro Pesto/Hummus Sandwich & Watermelon Punch

This is inspired by Panera Bread’s Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich which is served on Tomato Basil bread with Cilantro hummus. This sandwich reminds me of the one that you get in Indian bakeries or movie theaters with the green chutney. Obviously, Panera Bread wouldn’t give me the recipe;) I wish they did! So, I came up with my own recipe!

I made the sandwich when I was going to Bushkill falls (Will post the pics soon) over the past weekend and also had in mind to send it to Show me your sandwich event, hosted by
Divya of Dil Se. Unfortunately, after the long hike, I was hungry and gobbled up the sandwich with out taking pics.. Not even one! And that evening, I come home and plan to blog the recipe and there I was sitting with no pictures So, I thought I missed it this time!
But, Divya was kind enough to take in my entry after the deadline! Thanks for that
With out much delay, let’s dig into the recipe!

2 slices of white bread, or your choice of bread
Couple of slices of Red Onion
2 slices/rounds of Tomato
2 slices of Cucumber
2-3 Pepperoncini/Sweet Peppers
Romaine lettuce

Cilantro Pesto-Hummus

1 bunch of cilantro, stems taken out
½ cup Pine Nuts, toasted
¼ cup Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans
¼ tsp Paprika
1 garlic clove
2 green chilies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup of Olive oil+1 tbsp

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the cumin seeds and green chilies.
Place the rest of the ingredients (Cilantro, pine nuts, beans, paprika, clove, salt) in a blender along with the cumin seeds and chilies.
Blend them until it forms a thick paste.
The paste should be spread able and not watery.
Add more or less oil as needed to make the paste.
Add lemon juice to the pesto-hummus


Note: I don’t use salt as much but feel free to change the proportions of salt to your taste.

Arranging the sandwich:
Cut the crusts off the bread with a knife. Yes, I hate to eat those brown crusts.It is not required to do so, if you like them.


Spread a tbsp of Pesto-hummus on one slice.
Arrange the lettuce, onion, tomato, cucumber, peppers on top of the hummus and cover it with the other bread slice. Secure it with a tooth pick!



This is my entry to Show me your sandwich event, hosted by Divya of Dil Se!

Water melon Punch

I usually have soda with bread or sandwich.But in Summer, its Watermelon time!
This is from the Food Network's Paula Deen recipe of Watermelon Punch. I have tweaked it a bit to suit my taste buds!

3 cups of cubed watermelon
4 oz of frozen limeade concentrate,thawed
1 cup of Pineapple juice
1 recipe Simple Syrup

Simple Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Place water and sugar in a pan and stir until sugar dissolves completely.Boil it for about a minute.Cool the syrup.

Blend the watermelon cubes and syrup.Strain the liquid through a fine sieve.Blend the liquid with Limeade and juice.Serve it cold, with ice.


This is off to Monthly Mingle, guest hosted by Maxine and Hillary of Chewonthatblog , an event created by Meeta of What's for lunch honey.

Shri

29 comments:

Srilakshmi said...

Awesome Sandwich and Punch Kavitha! It happens so many times that you plan to take pics but hunger doesn't let you! Do post pics of your weekend trip :-)

Shri said...

Srilakshmi, That was a quick one..Thanks!Yes, I will post the pics pretty soon:)

Vrinda said...

Wow,wat a lovely punch Shri,nice click..and thanx for the pesto-hummus recipe,i am gonna try that soon...

Vaishali said...

I love the sound of the hummus-pesto with the cilantro and chickpeas and pine nuts. Nice innovation. And given that we've been having near-100-degree days all this week, I'd love nothing more than that beautiful drink with watermelon. :)

kittymatti said...

Interesting and bookmarked.. I like panera too,

sireesha said...

U have nice and lovely blog...
Fabulous sandwich and punch..

Shri said...

Vrinda,Sireesha,Vaishali and Kittymatti-Thanks for your wonderful comments!And Kittymatti, Panera is a loevely place to go!

Rush said...

this is perfect evening quickie!!!
would try this definitely in these summer days!!

Unknown said...

Delicious Sandwich & yummy punch. Can have it any time of the time.

Bergamot said...

The pesto-hummus looks really great.. nice pics

Pavithra Elangovan said...

mmmmm wonderful post both sandwich and punch..

Pari Vasisht said...

What a yummy sandwich, and the pesto recipe is too good to resist.

Sushma Mallya said...

healthy and yummy sandwich ....lovely pic too

Vani said...

Lovely pics! Could use that watermelon punch right now :)

Red Chillies said...

The veggie Mediterranean sandwich that we get in Panera is my favorite and I could eat it everyday. I did not know what that green layer was, but thanks to you now I know. I will try this pesto hummus soon. They also load it with feta cheese don't they? I simply remove that part;

Sushma Mallya said...

delicious sandwiches....nice pic too

Shri said...

RC,
Yes, they do add feta but I put it aside too:)The sandwich has Cilantro Hummus and not pesto but I wanted to see what it would be like to add nuts and it came out quite good.

Rush, A2Z, Bergamot, Pavithra,Pari,Vani&Sushma:

Thanks for your lovely comments:)

Padma said...

Looks delicious - the sandwich as well the punch .... nice pics

Uma said...

yummy sandwich with refreshing punch :)

amna said...

pesto and hummus?? yumm!! :)

Priya Suresh said...

Delicious sandwich and refreshing punch!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Yummy sandwich and refreshing drink, lovely and perfect combo for weekend breakfast. Thanks for sharing Shri!

Shri said...

Thanks,Padma, Uma, Priya,Nags and Mythreyi for your comments!

Padmajha said...

hi Shri,

Got a surprise for you at my blog..
check it out @ http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/2009/08/bunch-of-awards-easy-potato-curry-and.html

PJ

Shri said...

Thanks PJ for the awards.

Soma said...

Love the sound of cilantro hummus. i have been trying i don't know how many kind of hummus. Healthy & flavorful.

Refreshing summer punch.

Abhilash said...

Sandwitch.. I love it! bud :( do not know to make it...

This post was helpful...

Will try it.

Joanne said...

Nothing beats a delicious sandwich with a refreshing drink on a warm summer day. Yum to both!

Anonymous said...

I also crave this sandwich from Panera and have tried to recreate it several times. I just think the peppers, specifically the Peppadew peppers are what make this sandwich especially wonderful and I just today bought them at Whole Foods. Yes! I'm going to try to bake some type of tomato-basil bread and hopefully be satisfied with my close-to-Panera Mediterranean Veggie!

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