Let’s Get Started!

Veggies and Bread Ingredients

• 1 small sweet onion
• 1 parsnip
• 6 oz. sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes) (3 or 4)
• 4 slices of Whole Grain bread

Salad Ingredients

• fresh chives (for garnish)
• 1 ounce baby spinach ¼ cup + 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Ingredients

• 3 roasted garlic cloves
• 2 cans chickpeas drained (save 2T of liquid)
• ¾ cup roasted red peppers (water packed)
• ¼ cup tahini
• ½ tsp cumin

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare Ingredients: Peel onion, halve, and thinly slice. Rinse remaining produce. Cut parsnips on a diagonal into ¼ inch slices. Peel sunchokes and cut into ¼ inch slices. Thinly slice chives. Tear spinach into bite size pieces, discarding stems.
2. Roast vegetables on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper; place parsnips and sunchokes arranged in a single layer (So they are not touching). Roast in the oven until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for red pepper sauce into a food processor or high speed blender and process until smooth. (If using a blender you may need to add a spoonful of water to blend.)
4. Adjust seasonings to taste.
5. Assemble Paninis: place a layer of sauce on the bread. Add vegetables. Finish with remaining bread.
6. Heat a non- stick skillet over medium heat until good and hot. Place paninis in the pan and place another heavy pan on top and cook until golden brown, 4-6 minutes per side.
7. Plate Paninis. Halve the paninis on a diagonal and plate with a salad made with the spinach and chives. Top with your favorite healthy dressing. You will have plenty of red pepper sauce left to save and use as a dip.

Benefits

Parsnips can lower the risk of diabetes, improve digestion, and strengthen the immune system. They contain potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, iron, and include vitamins such as B, C, E, and K and are also packed with fiber. Sunchokes are full of fiber called inulin (a prebiotic) that feeds gut flora. They are rich in potassium and help the body absorb minerals. Chickpeas contain fiber, protein, manganese, folate, zinc and vitamin K. Being packed with these things chickpeas are good for your bones, digestion and can even play a part in cancer prevention. Red peppers contain several phytochemicals, carotenoids which provide you with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. They are also a good source of vitamins A, C and E as well as enzymes that protect the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.