Grilled Veggie Hoagies

Long ago, I worked at a little company that was near a small restaurant called Bee'z. Bee'z is your typical neighborhood restaurant in that the service is terrible but the food is pretty terrific. They have pizza and pasta and just a bit more and did I mention Grilled Veggie Hoagies? Because good grief. They win at Grilled Veggie Hoagies.

And THAT is why I made Bee'z a very regular lunch haunt. The Grilled Veggie Hoagie is all that and then some.

Alas, Bee'z is no longer convenient for lunch or even dinner, so I went hunting for a new source for Grilled Veggie Hoagies. That task turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than expected. Nobody gets them quite right, so I had to figure them out for myself.

Which, WIN!

Though, I will be the first to tell you that this recipe is lacking one really important ingredient that would make all the difference in the world. It's missing that magical ingredient where someone else did all of the work and you just sat and happily ate.

I still have to figure out how to get that ingredient in my life more often.

Grilled Veggie Hoagies (makes four 6-8 inch hoagies)

Hoagie rolls
Provolone cheese slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 small can sliced black olives
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced hot pepper rings
1 pound baby spinach
1/2 cup feta (Bee'z uses ricotta. I say feta is better.)
Shredded lettuce
Tomato slices
Italian dressing

1. Turn the oven broiler on high. You're going to use it to melt the provolone and toast your hoagie rolls a bit.

2. While that's heating up, let's get started with grilling the vegetables. The only trick to this is the order of the veggies. The goal is to start with the veggies that need the longest to cook so that everything is ready at the same time. So! Big skillet. Olive oil. Medium-high heat. Start with the red peppers. While they are cooking, slice your onion. By the time the onion is ready to throw in, the peppers will have had a decent enough head start. Then let the onion cook for 3-4 minutes before adding the next thing. You're ready to rumble when the onion starts to turn clear. Once the onion starts to seem clear, toss in the olives, mushrooms, pepper rings, and spinach. Yes, I know that's a lot of spinach. It will shrink as it cooks.

(Don't forget to stir the veggies as they cook so that you don't burn anything.)

3. Speaking of the spinach cooking, when it's completely wilted, it's time to toss in the feta. Give it 30 seconds to warm up then turn off the heat on your veggies.

4. Slice open your hoagie rolls. Place them on a cookie sheet so that the sliced open sides are facing up. Toss a few slices of provolone cheese on top of each roll then put them in the oven. Allow the broiler to melt the cheese. The amount of time it will take will vary wildly based on your oven. Just watch it. When you think the cheese is melted enough, it's melted enough.

5. Once the cheese is melted, top with some grilled veggies. Then toss some shredded lettuce and tomato slices on top. Then add a bit of Italian dressing.

So good.

So very good.

Comments

[ann]

Yum! These almost look identical to the grilled veggie sub at Penn Station Subs. If you're ever near one, you should try it. I don't eat much meat and these are my favorite.

[Richie2Shoes]

Thanks for this. I made them last night and they were excellent. Except the roll fell apart and I ate half of it with a fork... Still good though!