I distinctly remember the first time ever I made a sandwich using a sandwich maker. My aunt had got us a Rowenta Sandwich Maker from the US some fifteen years ago…when it was still unheard of in India. My mom was not too keen to switch to alternate ways of making bread. In her mind, it was pretty satisfactory to toast the bread on a tawa and have it with butter once in a blue moon. My sister was way too young. The others could simply not muster enough time to sit through the ardous task of getting a pin converter and reading the instructions to even start operating it. I had rememberd seeing litttle gadgets in the Home Life Exhibitions, where they had a little bread shaped steel thing, where you could place the bread with the filling and manually toast it over the flame, holding it with the handles provided. It was a novel way of presenting the mundane bread. So I set aside a sunday morning to experiment…and my cousins were only too happy to sample the results of my venture!!!

The first time, I greased the electric plates, placed the bread slices on both sides and wondered what to fill in? I simply pulled out an onion and a tomato and sliced them in to very thin pieces and gingerly placed them on the bread. Sprinkled salt and pepper and some cilantro and covered the filling with the second slice of bread. We all waited with bated breath and were rewarded with the sweet smell of the onions and tomatoes and cilantro roasting in the little apparatus. Three minutes later, the red indicator light switched off and I used a pair of tongs and retrieved the sandwich pieces which were already sliced in to two by now. Crisp on the sides, yet cooked on the inside, it was a tasty treat that morning. From then on it was my own little piece of work as I would find creative fillngs for sandwiches. Bread now had a new intonation in our home….The sandwich had finally arrived!!!

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices of bread.

1 tomato sliced very thin.

1/2 onion sliced thin.

Salt.

Pepper.

Cilantro chopped fine.

A handful of Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese.

Sandwich Maker.

PREPARATION:

• Grease the 4 electric plates with cooking spray and allow to preheat for a few minutes.
• Place the bread slices and arrange the tomato and onion slices alternately.
• Sprinkle salt and crushed pepper and then generous helping of Mozzarella Cheese.
• Sprinkle the cilantro and then place the second slice of bread and close.
• After about 3 minutes, take out golden brown, crusty on the sides, Tomato Cilantro Cheese Sandwich.
• Serve HOT with yummy tomato ketchup.

HINT:

Serves as an excellent breakfast and quick snack for kids when they come back from school.

Great for packing for short trips and Picnic Lunches, as they are easily eatable with no fuss.

Variations in the filling give an almost completely different taste to the sandwich.

Use peanut butter, apple butter, Alu Masal, Cheese, fruit slices, grilled veggies etc for fillings.

Packing away some, for the Cooking for Kids Event hosted by Divya of Dil Se and brainchild of Sharmi of Neivedyam.