Veggie Melt ala The Loop
Every Friday my fellow co-workers and I get together for lunch. One of our most frequently visited lunch spots is The Loop which is conveniently located in the shopping center next to us. The Loop has burgers, sammiches, pizzas, and milk shakes. They have great food and I always have a hard time deciding what I want. Some of my standards include the Greek salad, the Spicy BBQ Chicken Sammich with homemade chips and ranch dressing, and the Veggie Foccacia Melt. True I am not a vegetarian, but sometimes I channel my veg sister and go for the non-carnivorous lunch. Their veggie melt includes green peppers, mushrooms, kalamata olives and cheddar cheese blanketed in a warm flatbread and grilled. It is delish and very filling!
So I was looking for something different for lunch one weekend and decided to recreate the veggie melt at home. I cut up a red and green pepper into strips then sauteed them in a bit of olive oil. I threw in a carton of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas since they were on sale but use whatever), when they were soft I added a handful of kalamata olives and a shot of balsamic vinegar. At this point warm up a flatbread or pocket-less pita and load up the veggies and top with the cheese of your choice, fold over and eat as is or slap on a hot grill for a minute or two to get a crispy crunch.
For the price of one of these melts at The Loop, I made enough for about 4 of them! You can certainly add some sliced grilled chicken for a bit of protein but sometimes I like bulking up on the veg.
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