Warm Sandwiches, Mixed Greens, and Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing

As I’ve boldly hinted before, I don’t enjoy over complicating food. In my opinion, there’s no reason that most meals should consist of a lengthy list of ingredients (side rant, does anyone else hate that when you have to purchase a giant bottle of a random spice you may never use again? And the recipe ends up calling for 1/4 tsp? This pet peeve is certainly a reason I enjoy keeping meals simple..). Spending time in the kitchen tends to be even more cumbersome when you’re experiencing record high temperatures in September (Fall, where you at?). As a result of the hot temps, we’ve avoided turning our oven on at all costs these last few days and in turn, threw together an incredibly simple Sunday night dinner to enjoy while we watched football and a few episodes of Shameless. 

I had a taste for a tangy/sweet sort of dressing with our mixed green salads and I consequently had received a jar of avocado oil in this week’s Thrive Market order. The avocado itself has a seemingly endless list of health benefits, and avocado oil is no different. Avo oil is extracted from the actual flesh of the avocado. It’s high in monosaturated fats (improves cholesterol and reduces risk of heart disease!) and Vitamins A, E, and D. Avo/Avo oil also contains magnesium (helps with digestion, increases energy, relieves muscle aches…the list goes on). Another great thing about avo oil is that it really doesn’t have any sort of taste. Even though I eat avocado with everything, I don’t necessarily want all my foods tasting like it. Because of this, I even used some in my gluten-free pumpkin muffins this morning!

I used this oil as the base for my dressing and added it gradually to the honey mustard mixture. It turned out to be just enough tangy and just enough sweet to satisfy my craving and a little bit of it certainly went a long way. 

Honey Mustard Dressing

• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 2 tbs yellow or dijon mustard
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 tbs apple cider vingar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt

Ham and Swiss Paninis – Makes 2 Paninis

• 4 slices of crusty bread (sourdough works well)
• 4 slices of thick- cut ham (I love the black forest ham from (Greenridge Farm). 
• 2 slices of swiss cheese
• Any sandwich toppings you like! We love red pepper or avocado slices on our paninis. 

Mix the honey,mustard, and apple cider vinegar together with a whisk or a fork. Gradually add the avocado oil to the mixture. Add garlic powder and salt. 

We grilled up our sandwiches on our panini maker (that thing gets more use than any appliance in our house) and threw together each salad using 1 cup of organic mixed baby greens, sliced cucumbers, and 2 tbs of dressing. All together dinner took about fifteen minutes which maximized the amount of couch time Sunday night!

Do you have an appliance or kitchen gadget that gets used more than all others? Do you have a Sunday dinner routine?