Spicy Turkey Avocado Paninis
Happy Friday Eve friends!
I hope you’ve had a great short week – I can’t believe it’s already almost the weekend again! If you follow me on Instagram stories you know that Ethan and I are gearing up for a trip to Colorado in just a couple of days! We will be “glamping” at Piney River Ranch in Vail and it is going to be absolutely amazing. The scenery there is breathtaking (see below) and we will have no electricity/WiFi, so I will be taking some much needed time away from my phone and Instagram! As much as I love social media, it is always nice to take a break every once in a while, and come back feeling refreshed and inspired! I have a feeling that is exactly what this trip will do for me.
Photos below taken from the @pineyriverranch Instagram page:
It will be just the two of us, and those are my favorite kinds of trips. Ethan and I love traveling and exploring new places together, and this is our first time doing something like this! As I mentioned, we will be “glamping”, so we are staying in a nice, big tent with wood floors and a nice, queen mattress, BUT we don’t have electricity or showers, so we are still kinda roughing it if you ask me. 😉
Ethan has gone a little crazy buying everything camping-related off of Amazon Prime or from Scheel’s, Academy or any other sporting goods store in the tri-state area in preparation for this trip. So needless to say, we should be set. We have a little pop-up grill where we are planning to cook several of our meals (any ideas & inspiration would be gladly accepted), but if we have any flops, our resort has a restaurant we can fall back on. If all else fails, PB&J and protein bars to the rescue! Again, this is my kind of camping, y’all! I can handle using dry shampoo and “body wipes” to keep clean for a couple days, but I cannot handle sleeping on the ground, so this is a perfect compromise. We will be hiking my first 13,000+ foot mountain one day, horseback riding in the wilderness, canoeing, making s’mores over a campfire and enjoying some time unplugged! Please say prayers that this pesky cold/cough of mine will disappear by the time we get there. No one wants to be sick on vacation!!!
I wanted to give you all a little more info about our trip, but now it’s time to talk about the recipe I’m sharing with you today!
Anyone who knows me well knows that my love for sandwiches runs deep. Way back in high school when I was a cheerleader we would always go to Goodcents to grab sandwiches before games. It was like a good luck ritual. Goodcents is still my #1 favorite place to get subs, in case you were wondering, but there’s also something so satisfying about making your own bomb AF sammy at home. Thanks to the Hen House CSA this summer, I got some amazing loaves of Farm to Market Bread (local to KC — honestly the most delicious and by far the freshest bread I’ve ever had), and it inspired me to make my own sandwiches. You can only eat toast so many times. Okay, that’s a lie; I could eat avocado toast + cream cheese/jelly toast every day and not get sick of it, but that’s besides the point.
Another fun fact: back in college when I was living in my sorority house, Pi Phi at K-State, Ethan was one of our house boys, which is kinda how we rekindled our small flame from high school. Whenever I was walking home from class I would text him to let him know and he would turn on the panini maker for me, because I ate a panini for lunch pretty much every day that year — HOW ROMANTIC, RIGHT?! Lol, but seriously. Food is the way to my heart; he learned that early on.
I have already referenced high school and college in this post, so before I get all nostalgic, let’s get on with the recipe, shall we? This recipe is super versatile and you can obviously use whichever brands of bread, cheese and hummus you like, BUT the ones I listed are the ones I definitely recommend because the flavors of others just do not compare. The avocado is NOT optional (unless you’re allergic, of course). It’s like the cherry on top if you ask me. Ethan even commented that the avocado was a nice addition! One last thing — I have made this recipe with oven roasted chicken sliced thin from the deli and it is delicious as well. As always, whatever your preference is, go with it!
Spicy Turkey Avocado Paninis
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread sourdough or whole grain
- 3 oz oven-roasted turkey or chicken fresh from deli counter
- 2 slices Cabot pepperjack cheese
- 1 Tbsp Hope Foods Jalapeno Red hummus* or hummus of choice
- 1/2 ripe avocado sliced
- Sliced red onions and fresh greens to garnish
- Fresh cracked black pepper & oregano to taste
Instructions
- Heat up George Foreman grill or panini press. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients on top of bread; spread hummus on one half. Close to make a sandwich.
- Transfer to George Foreman and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until the bread is lightly browned and cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately; enjoy!
Notes
I hope you guys love these paninis as much as we did! This is such a delicious, easy and QUICK dinner, which is so perfect for busy weeknights!
As always, tag me on Instagram @wellnessforthewin if you try this recipe yourself. 🙂
Talk to you soon!
XO,
Shanna
