Summer picnics, ball games, family outings, hikes and camping trips are great occasions to grill sandwiches. You can eat them hot off the grill or cook them ahead for a portable lunch. Grilling turns even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into a warm, gooey delight. However, grownups probably want something a little more sophisticated. Ready to try some new and exciting grilled sandwiches?

Why Grill a Sandwich?

Because it makes the outside of the bread (or wrap) toasty and crispy, and makes the filling all warm and gooey. If you cook it on an outdoor grill, you’ll add smoky flavour to an otherwise ordinary sandwich.

How do I Grill a Sandwich ?

If you have an outdoor barbecue, fire it up, oil the grate and throw (well, not literally) your sandwich or wrap on the grill. Be careful not to let the filling drip through the grates.

If you don’t have an outdoor barbecue, you can grill a sandwich on your stove top, using a frying pan, a cast iron skillet, a cast iron griddle or a grill pan. Other options are the George Foreman Grill, a panini grill or a toaster oven. For more information on these indoor grilling options, scroll down below the recipes.

A Grilled Monte Cristo Sandwich, courtesy of Kevin Lynch, Closet Cooking

Grilled Sandwich Ideas

• Here's an easy breakfast sandwich: Slice a croissant or an English muffin in half and butter the insides, or butter two pieces of your choice of bread. Place on a hot griddle, or frying pan butter side down and grill until you like it. Remove to a plate. Place a slice of cheese on one side and a slice of cooked Canadian bacon (or another meat of your choice) on the other. Meanwhile, fry two eggs and when they're done, assemble your sandwich with the eggs in the middle. Season to taste. The heat from the hot eggs will melt the cheese and you'll have a tasty breakfast sandwich!

• Surprise your kids and make a Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. Make it healthy by using natural peanut butter and all fruit preserves. Want to Reinvent the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich? Here's a list of ideas, including bacon, bananas (the Elvis sandwich), mayonnaise, potato chips and raisins.

• Here's an excellent example of Grilled Vegetable Panini using a panini grill. Step-by-step instructions with photos show techniques and ingredients for a delicious game-time sandwich. These can also be made on the barbecue or a stove top griddle using a weight to flatten the sandwiches.

• This Grilled Monte Cristo Sandwich (shown above) will knock your socks off! It's basically a ham and cheese sandwich, dipped in egg and milk and French toasted. Paired with strawberry jam and mustard, this is a real unique taste treat!

• Grilled Chili Cheese Quesadillas can be put right on the barbecue for a fast outside summer lunch.

• Start with your basic delicious Grilled Cheese Sandwich, then dress up your Grilled Cheese for company by using these 9 variations.

• What is a Cuban Sandwich? I've had a fascination with these sandwiches ever since I had one at a local restaurant. It was succulent and full of flavor. It also looked easy to make. Cuban Sandwiches for Beginners is a great place to start for lots of tasty ideas. This simple Grilled Cuban Sandwich uses sliced turkey and ham, cranberry jelly, cheese and a pickle.

• There's no rule in the handbook that says you can't grill a BLT! Although not technically a grilled sandwich, the all-American and beloved BLT would be awesome if you toasted it on a hot griddle.

Stove-Top Grilling Options

• Cast Iron Skillet: This might have been the first grill pan ever to be used! Save some money and dig out your trusty old cast iron pan. It holds the heat, it grills evenly and if it's been well seasoned over the years, it's virtually non-stick!

• Cast Iron Griddle: I have a large rectangular cast iron griddle that is ridged on one side and flat on the other. It lays across 2 burners and uses the heat from the stove for cooking. I've used this not only for sandwiches, but also French toast, pancakes, grilled chicken and much more.

• Grill Pans: Special non-stick grill pans come with either ridged or flat surfaces. The square pan is the perfect shape for square sandwiches! These come in handy when you want to make a quick sandwich and don't want to plug in or buy another appliance. The advantage to these pans? They can be taken camping, too!

Counter-top Grilling Options

• The George Foreman Grill is probably the most well-known electric grill today. Foreman claims that it "Seals in the flavor and knocks out the fat!" They come in all sizes and prices and are non-stick, making them a good choice for sandwiches.

• Panini grills are not just for restaurants. You can get them in virtually any size and price range. Wise Geek has the best explanation, but it's a counter-top grill that is hinged and grills both sides of the sandwiches, hopefully with those appetizing ridge marks. It's either a great time-saver or a big space-waster, depending on the size of your kitchen and how often you use it.

• Toaster Oven: There's probably a wedding gift sitting on a shelf in your basement covered in dust. Get that toaster oven out and start using it! It keeps the kitchen cool on a hot summer day and does a lot more than make toast! It broils open-faced sandwiches, makes an excellent Tuna Melt, and kids of all ages will love English Muffin Pizzas! Have the best of both worlds with English Muffin Pizzas with Tuna Fish!

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There are many strange and wonderful looking tomatoes.

Tomatoes come in all colors: red, golden, green, pink, purple and even black! There is debate over whether they're fruits or vegetables (they're both, by the way), over pronunciation of the word – to-MAY-toe vs. to-MAH-toe, and over whether they taste better cooked or raw. But there's no question that they're delicious and, during the summer, you MUST enjoy them!

Today, with the help of Emily Chapelle, I'm sharing with you:

• My new video of my nephew Jon Sacker's basic Tomato Sauce Recipe
• How to Buy and Store Fresh Tomatoes
• How to Peel and Seed A Tomato
• How to Freeze Tomatoes
• Buying the Best Canned Tomatoes
• And finally Links to Great Tomato Recipes

If you or a friend have tomato plants, you're probably about to be overwhelmed with these usually red globes, and you can only eat so many BLTs for lunch! So what're you going to do? This quick tutorial will give you several ideas!

How to Buy and Store Tomatoes

When you pick up a good tomato, it should feel heavy for its size and have a distinct tomato-y smell. It should have a little “give” when you feel it, but not be mushy at all, and the skin should not be bruised or have blemishes or cracks.

The best place to get tomatoes is in your own backyard vegetable garden or from a local farmer's market. Tomatoes in the grocery store are often picked before they're ready, artificially ripened, and not as flavorful as the locally grown fresh varieties. Canned tomatoes are honestly often better than the tomatoes in the grocery store.

Do not refrigerate tomatoes, because their texture will change; they'll become mealy. Instead, store them on your counter top in a cool, dry spot, stem side down. Don't stack them on top of each other, because they'll tend to make each other mushy. Store them in a single layer.

There are roughly three types of tomatoes generally found at the grocery store.

1. Slicing tomatoes:

One popular kind is the beefsteak tomato.

It is grown for fresh use, and it yields large slices perfect for sandwiches!  Look for the sign or the label on the tomato itself.

2. Paste/Canning tomatoes:

These are often smaller and more oblong-shaped than slicing tomatoes. They tend to be meatier and have fewer seeds - perfect for making sauces with creamy texture and lots of flavor, or canning for the long winter! One popular variety is the Roma tomato. These are also known as “plum tomatoes.”

3. Tiny ones:

Cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes are the most popular. These are great for adding tomato flavor to dishes without any of the moisture associated with the cut fruit … perfect for pasta salads or green salads!

In the summertime, especially at Farmer's Markets, there are of course, many more varieties of tomatoes available. Here's a great website with a description of dozens of them.

How to Peel and Seed a Tomato

Some of you might be thinking - "why do I ever need to peel and seed a tomato?"

It can be a matter of preference but, generally speaking, for recipes with quick cooking times it is best to peel the tomatoes. Recipes that call for a long simmering time usually do not have you peel the tomatoes. In my Guacamole recipe I do not peel the tomato but I do seed it as all those extra seeds (and juice) really throw off the texture and can make it watery.

Start by cutting an X in the bottom of the tomato with a very sharp knife. You want to just pierce the skin.

If you are peeling just one or two (or three!) tomatoes put them in a heat-proof (Pyrex) bowl big enough so that when you add the water they will be totally covered.

Pour BOILING water over the tomato(es.)

Within about 10-15 seconds, the skin will have burst. (There are some who say to leave the tomato in the water for 3-to-4 minutes. WRONG! You do not want the tomato to cook and get mushy.)

Remove the tomato from the water with a pair of tongs.

You can also do this in a pot of boiling water, using tongs to add and remove the tomato from the pot.

Prepare an ice-bath, which is just a bowl of water with ice cubes in it.

Using tongs, drop the tomato into the ice bath.

This cools off the tomato and stops the cooking process. Remove the tomato from the ice bath and the skin now just slips off…

…and the tomato is all peeled.

To remove the seeds, cut the tomato in half with the blade of the knife parallel to the stem.

You can gently squeeze the tomato to remove the seeds, or just ease them out with your finger.

Once tomatoes are peeled and seeded they can get added to salads, dips, sauces, cold soups, etc.

The longest part of the entire process of peeling and seeding a tomato is boiling the water!

How to Freeze Tomatoes

If your garden is bursting with fresh tomatoes you can actually freeze raw tomatoes.

The University of Nebraska's Alice Henneman (MS, RD, UNL Extension in Lancaster County) has described how you would go about freezing raw tomatoes:

“Tomatoes may be frozen whole, sliced, chopped, or puréed. Additionally, you can freeze them raw or cooked, as juice or sauce, or prepared in the recipe of your choice. Thawed raw tomatoes may be used in any cooked-tomato recipe. Do not try to substitute them for fresh tomatoes, however, since freezing causes their texture to become mushy. Tomatoes should be seasoned just before serving rather than before freezing; freezing may either strengthen or weaken seasonings such as garlic, onion, and herbs.

Preparation:

Select firm, ripe tomatoes for freezing. Sort the tomatoes, discarding any that are spoiled. Wash them in clean water. Dry them by blotting with a clean cloth or paper towels.

Freezing whole tomatoes with peels:

Prepare tomatoes as described above. Cut away the stem. Place the uncut tomatoes on cookie sheets and freeze. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched LINK before freezing. Once frozen, transfer the tomatoes from the cookie sheets into freezer bags or other containers. Seal tightly.

To use the frozen tomatoes, remove them from the freezer a few at a time or all at once. To peel, just run a frozen tomato under warm water in the kitchen sink. Its skin will slip off easily.

Freezing peeled tomatoes:

If you prefer to freeze peeled tomatoes, you can wash the tomatoes and then dip them in boiling water for about 1 minute or until the skins split. Peel and then freeze as noted above.

For more information on freezing tomatoes: Check this link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, hosted by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service: Freezing Tomatoes

Storage time

To extend the time frozen foods maintain good quality, package foods in material intended for freezing (that means proper freezer bags, not just any bag that's left over from the produce section of the grocery store). Keep the temperature of the freezer at 0 degrees F or below. It is generally recommended frozen vegetables be eaten within about 8 months for best quality.”

Buying the Best Canned Tomatoes

(From this point onward, I need to extend an apology to my world wide audience. The following reviews are based on canned tomatoes available in the United States. I would love it if any of my overseas readers could add in the comment section what canned tomatoes they could recommend from their country of origin. Thanks!)

All canned tomatoes are not the same. One should not dismiss canned tomatoes if the first brand you try does not meet your standards. There are many to choose from. Please keep in mind that some brands may have superior canned whole tomatoes but their “roasted” canned tomatoes are rated inferior. This is one purchase where you really need to read the label carefully!

Chris Kimbal, over at America's Test Kitchens, provides a useful guide. One of the many wonderful things they do at America's Test Kitchen is test ingredients.

Here is a quick summary of their recommendations on what canned tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato puree they recommend:

WHOLE CANNED TOMATOES- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:

1. PROGRESSO Italian-Style Whole Peeled Tomatoes with Basil
2. REDPACK Whole Peeled Tomatoes in Thick Puree
3. HUNT'S Whole Tomatoes

DICED TOMATOES- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

1. MUIR GLEN Organic Diced Tomatoes
2. REDPACK Diced Tomatoes (REDGOLD on the West Coast)

TOMATO PUREE RECOMMENDED

1. HUNT'S: "Nice and thick," "tomatoey."
2. PROGRESSO: "Thick," "tastes kind of fresh."
3. CENTO: "Balanced, good flavor," "slightly bitter."
4. MUIR GLEN: "Thick and strong," "good flavor."
5. PASTENE: "Fresh tasting, "tinny."
6. REDPACK: "Velvety smooth texture, "very acidic."
7. CONTADINA: "Good balance," "slightly sour."
8. RIENZI: "Vegetable flavor," "very thin."

If you would like a more in depth description of America's Test Kitchen Review, head on over to America's Test Kitchen and sign in! Thanks ATK!

Links to Some Great Tomato Recipes!

Lovely and fragrant basil plants are everywhere! My Marinara Sauce uses canned tomatoes with a nice big bunch of fresh basil.

One of the easiest ways to use tomatoes is in Insalata Caprese, an Italian salad that combines chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, oil and balsamic vinegar. It's that simple!

Try this penne pasta recipe with tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese.

Creamy tomato soup by Love Homemaking uses canned tomatoes and sounds quite yummy.

These cheesy buttermilk baked tomatoes will fill you up for only 61 calories each!

If you like Mexican food, you've probably tried Spanish rice, a tomato-y twist on the plain white version.

My Pasta Salad is the perfect meal to enjoy this summer on a picnic. Bow-tie pasta, salami, olives, green onions, feta or goat cheese, vinaigrette dressing, and of course tomatoes make this salad a summer favorite!

This one's got a long name, but it's so mouth-wateringly delicious-sounding that I have to tell you the whole thing: Tomato and Fresh Basil Crostini (toast) with Feta and Roasted Garlic Cheese Spread…mmm. A great appetizer similar to bruschetta.

Tomato pie in a flaky pastry crust is a classically southern way to enjoy your garden's abundance of tomatoes. (Emily's pie used peeled tomatoes and it looks delicious!)

Tomatoes stuffed with rice are an easy and elegant dish to serve your summer dinner party guests. Try adding vegetables, sausage pieces, or ground beef to your rice mixture.

Fried green tomatoes are another classically southern dish. Green tomatoes have a tangier taste than red ones, and when breaded and fried, they make a crispy and fresh appetizer, addition to sandwiches, or side for crab cakes.

Try another version of the stuffed tomato. This one is filled with a breadcrumb-cheddar mixture.

A third stuffed tomato recipe fills them with orzo (tiny rice-shaped pasta) and two cheeses, then grills them. What a neat twist!

My taboule recipe (shown below) will keep you cool because there's no cooking involved! Plus, with fresh flavors like tomato, lemon, and mint, you can't go wrong.

Cheers!

Kathy

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