The Best Veggie and Cheese Sandwich

As far as I am concerned Football Season starts in pre-season and I'm over the moon. Saturday my beloved New Orleans Saints played the St. Louis Rams winning 26-24, unfortunately I did not get to see it.  

What goes with Football?  Football party/Tailgating food, this year that's good and bad.  As of June 11th, 2014 I started exercising my butt off and eating healthy....you see where I'm going with this... Football fare is fattening.  

I have lost 28.3 pounds and I'm not going to put it back on.  I am sticking around the 1,200 calories a day. However with my exercising I get to add an average of 300 to 400 extra calories to my 1,200 and I still lose the weight.  

I am walking - jogging an average of 16,800 steps a day which comes out to around 7 to 8 miles per day. I want something hearty and believe it or not this Veggie Sandwich is hearty, filling and packed with flavor.  It meets all my needs.  As you can see it's a messy sandwich too.  If you serve this at your football party you can still add some meat to it and your carnivores will be happy.

The Best Veggie and Cheese Sandwich

2 large onions, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper, to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced and divided
1 1/2 tablespoons plus more if needed extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, rough chop
2 6 oz cans artichoke hearts, drained
2 cups crimini mushrooms sliced
1/2 can of beef consommé
splash dry marsala wine (optional)
gruyere cheese, shredded
Inglehoffer Cream Style Horseradish (optional)
4 favorite rolls (I used onion rolls)

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium low heat add sliced onions, salt and pepper; cook low and slow until caramelized, approx 45 minutes or longer; stirring occasionally.  30 minutes into cooking the onions add bell peppers, artichoke hearts and garlic.  Remove onion mixture from heat leaving as much of the juices in pan.  Add sliced mushrooms, more olive oil if needed sauté mushrooms for about 10 minutes or until tender; stirring occasionally, add thyme and garlic cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Add the onion mixture to the mushrooms and add the beef consommé and allow to cook down for 15 minutes.  Note: the vegetables can all be cooked earlier in the day and heated when you are ready to assemble the sandwiches.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Assembly: Cut rolls in half, spread cream style horseradish to both sides of the buns, add shredded cheese, veggie mixture, more cheese and top with bun.  Wrap in aluminum foil place on a cookie sheet and place in a hot oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Makes 4 large sandwiches.

Other uses for the vegetables mixture after they are done cooking toss with fettuccine pasta. If you use for pasta put in the whole can of beef consommé....so incredible!