Here’s the 2008 winner. Will your sandwich
recipe bring home the bacon in 2009?

Mezzetta, the contest sponsor, makes the capers, crushed garlic, marinated red peppers, pickled vegetables, olive oil, olives, sundried tomatoes and other specialties that bring sandwiches alive. Here’s the 2008 winner, submitted by Edwina Gadsby of Great Falls, Montana:

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

– 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices peasant bread or other artisan bread
– 3 cups shredded Manchego cheese
– 3 ounces thinly sliced Serrano ham or prosciutto

Smoky Paprika Roasted Pepper & Tomato Topping
– 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
– 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
– 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
– 1 tablespoons crushed garlic
– 1 cup roasted red pepper strips
– 1 cup sundried tomatoes in olive oil
– 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

Directions

For Topping: Whisk together in bowl vinegar, paprika, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and crushed garlic. Add roasted red pepper strips, sundried tomatoes and parsley (or cilantro); toss to coat.

For Sandwiches: Sprinkle 4 slices of bread with half the cheese. Top with Smoky Paprika Roasted Pepper & Tomato Topping and ham. Apply the remaining cheese as another layer. Top with a second piece of bread and press together.

Brush sandwiches with remaining olive oil and heat in a panini press or skillet until lightly browned on both sides and cheese has melted. Serve hot.

• For more great grilled cheese sandwiches, see 12 gourmet grilled cheese recipes on TheNibble.com.

• Discover our favorite yogurts.
• Find more yogurt serving ideas.

Photo by Jasper Golangco | SXC.

But these common misconceptions simply are not true. According to The Association for Dressings & Sauces, an international association of salad dressing, mayonnaise, mustard and other condiment manufacturers and their suppliers, commercial mayonnaise is one of the safest products you can eat.

Carefully prepared under strict quality controls, mayonnaise is made with pasteurized eggs that are free of Salmonella and other dangerous bacteria. Additional ingredients such as vinegar and lemon juice create a high-acid environment that slows, and even stops, bacterial growth. The salt in the recipe also contributes to an unfavorable environment for bacteria. In fact, hazardous bacteria die off if placed in a commercially prepared mayo!

While mayonnaise does contribute 100 calories a tablespoon and cholesterol from egg yolks (that’s the bad news), it is made with healthy oils such as soybean and canola. Both are natural sources of alpha-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fatty acid—no trans fat. Both are also a major source of vitamin E. Read the label of your favorite mayonnaise to see what healthy oils it contains (some have olive oil, for example).

• Check out Lemonaise, one of our favorites and a Top Pick Of The Week, also available in Lemonaise Light.
• See the mayonnaises available from San Francisco’s Restaurant Lulu, including the kickin’ garlic aïoli—all Top Picks Of The Week.
• Make Julia Child’s mayonnaise recipe from scratch, plus green mayonnaise with spinach and herbs.

Granola Girl keeps it simple: Currently there are just two flavors—Maple Pecan and Cranberry Almond—both with near-universal appeal (both have nuts). The flavor profiles are delicate—nothing overwhelming, yet everything in perfect balance. They are sweetened very lightly, as well. The granolas are baked with canola oil and are so moist that no milk or yogurt is needed. These are not “crunchy,” baked-until-crisp granolas, yet the texture of the oats is chewy and lovely. That’s why we find them so different and so much more appealing than many of the less distinctive granolas we try. While not certified organic, they’re made with organic oats and oat bran.

No need to add milk to this moist, yummy granola.

• Read the full review and learn how granola went from a doctor-prescribed health food to a mainstream cereal and snack.
• See more of our favorite cereals.

• See our favorite ice cube trays—we won’t use any others.
• What’s the scoop on bottled water versus your muncipal water from the tap? Check it out.