Why hit the drive thru when you can make a panini at home?

Fight the temptation to hit the drive thru! You can make some really good lunches at home for less money and a whole lot less calories! Today for lunch I made a turkey, roasted red pepper, onion & laughing cow panini :)

Sometimes I think the key to a great panini is the bread. When it comes to bread, my personal favorite is from our local bakery; Mastroianni Bros Italian bread.

• 2 slices Mastroianni (or your favorite italian bread)
• 1 triangle of Laughing Cow Light Mozzerella, Sun Dried Tomato and Basil cheese
• 2 nice thick slices of red onion (grilled)
• 3 slices of your favorite deli turkey
• Roasted red pepper (as much as you like!)
• Olivio spread to lightly cover the outside of your bread

You may be wondering why I am using Olivio instead of butter. Well, it's because I don't notice a difference when making something like a panini between the two and it is half the fat & calories of butter and has Omega 3's added! I am a major cheese head, but if you want a healthier sandwich go for the laughing cow cheese which is only 35 calories and tastes fantastic! One serving was enough to cover my giant piece of italian bread :)

Spread the Olivio on the bread and get your bread toasting on the buttered side. On half the skillet grill your onion and turkey just long enough to give it some grill marks and take some of the crunch off the onion. Spread the laughing cow on the inside of the piece of bread you aren't toasting yet. Add the turkey, onion and roasted red peppers and the top slice of bread to make your sandwich complete. When you have nice grill marks flip it over and finish off the other side.

This is a very filling and delicious lunch for a fraction of the calories you would get hitting the drive thru. My rough calculation is about 300 calories for this monster sized sandwich! There are about 400 calories just in a medium order of french fries at McDonald's. I'll take the panini instead :)