Roasted Vegetables And Pesto Focaccia Sandwich

Personally, I love a good focaccia sandwich – especially since focaccia is one of my favourite breads.

I shouldn’t really be eating it though, since I’m supposed to be low-carbing.

(cough) The sacrifices I make for this blog, sigh.  

Good thing it’s pretty darn delicious then, so it’s not that big of a sacrifice :p

I know what some people might think when it comes to vegan sandwiches and burgers. Can one really feel satiated with a vegan sandwich/burger/wrap/burrito/whatever?

I mean, salad in between two pieces of bread doesn’t seem too appealing. But the truth is, there are indeed many ways you can make a vegan sandwich just as filling and satisfactory as a non-vegan one.

With the right ingredients, it can be done.

This is one of them 😉

Aaaand it’s all thanks to the eggplant and the portobello mushrooms.

They’re the stars of this amazing vegan focaccia sandwich. The MVP, y’know?

No? Ok never mind my lame attempt at young people’s lingo.

Baaaaaaaaaaaack to the main program.

What makes them so awesome?

Mostly because both eggplants and mushrooms have a great meaty texture. On top of that, eggplants in particular are so creamy when it has been roasted, and portobello mushrooms are incredibly flavourful.

And if you throw them in the oven with some good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar…it’s beyond delicious.

It’s heaven in your mouth, I swear.

Oh no, we aren’t stopping there though.

On top of our kickass filling, we’ve got a hint of rich, buttery mashed avocado and my all-time favourite sandwich companion – vegan pesto.

Also, since I’m too lazy to make my own vegan pesto (and it doesn’t help that all I have a shitty blender), I’m using store-bought vegan pesto.

Feel free to make your own vegan pesto, though!

Finally, after all the portobello mushroom, eggplant, pesto and avocado action, we top it off with some arugula or any salad greens of your choice. Adds a really nice crunch to the whole sandwich!

It’s a pretty complete and filling meal, if you ask me. Plus it’s actually healthy, and you can easily pack it for lunch.

You can also make the roasted eggplant and portobello mushrooms in advance. I usually make a large-ish batch and keep the excess in the fridge. Then all you have to do when you want to have a quick sandwich is to just assemble it.

Easy peasy.

Try it and let me know how it goes!

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Vegan + No Onion No Garlic

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Roasted Vegetables And Pesto Focaccia Sandwich

Course Main

Cuisine Western

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 2 sandwiches

Ingredients

• 2 squares focaccia about 4" in length
• 1 handful arugula or greens of your choice
• 6 tablespoon avocado mashed
• 2 tablespoon vegan pesto

Roasted Vegetables

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 portobello mushrooms
• 2 medium eggplant
• pepper to taste
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Slice eggplant into halves and score them at an angle. Slice portobello mushrooms roughly (not too thinly or it will burn too soon) and rub in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar into the mushrooms and eggplant halves. Season with salt and pepper. Spread them evenly on a baking tray, with the eggplant halves facing down.
3. Let it roast in the oven for about 25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, slice focaccia bread into halves sideways, and toast them on each side.
5. For each sandwich, put three tablespoons of mashed avocado on one side, and one tablespoon of vegan pesto on the other.
6. When the mushrooms and eggplant are out of the oven, slice the eggplant into smaller strips and put one layer of eggplant on one side of the focaccia bread. Put a layer of mushrooms on top of the eggplant, and top it off with some arugula (or any greens). Cover the sandwich with the other half of the focaccia bread. Repeat for the other sandwich.
7. Cut each sandwich into half diagonally with a sharp knife.
8. Done!

Recipe Notes

I find not much difference between salting and not salting the eggplant, so I skipped the salting step. If you still wish to salt the eggplant, then you just have to rub some salt on the eggplant after slicing it into half and leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes before roasting it.