Restaurant Review: Panini Cafe

A visit to Panini Cafe for fresh paninis, pastries, and casual café vibes—here’s what we ordered and what stood out.

Review of Panini Cafe

MGG and I love to try new restaurants.  One weekend we happened to go to a relatively new place called Panini Cafe  over in Woodland Hills that serves Italian and Mediterranean food. 

WoooWee!  Did we hit the jackpot.  Their food is outstanding!  Let me say upfront that Panini Cafe isn’t asking me or paying me to say this.  They don’t even know about it!  These are purely our own impressions of their wonderful dishes! 

The menu is filled with wonderful items.  They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Breakfast specialties include scrambles and omelets, French toast, and oatmeal.  We haven’t had their breakfast yet but hear that it is delish! 

We've eaten here several times now and are addicted to some items.  Both times we have a late lunch or early diner after a long day of running around.  Each time we’ve chosen an appetizer that will knock your socks off.   We’ve had their fresh Tatziki with fresh pita bread…killer.  This time we chose their Humus Trio which consists of 3 varieties of humus (black bean, traditional, and edamame) and includes fresh pita and chopped tomatoes and greens.  The Edamame humus is my favorite.  Nice and light but with a zip of garlic.  As I was eating this I said…”I need to buy more of this and take it home!”  Just fabulous!   Just look at this appetizer plate.  It’s rather large and should be shared by several people, or you can try and eat it all yourself like I almost did.  

Now, on to the main course.  We've tried several of their dishes such as Mousaka and the Linguine with Grilled Vegetables and Feta.  Both were delicious!  But my hands down, flip your skirt up, favorite dish has to be the Charbroiled Chicken Skish kabob.  O..M..G!  Even the menu says “A MUST” next to the item…that says it all!

Just look at this baby.  A HUGE plate with wonderful, succulent, marinated chicken, and vegetables.  And that’s not all…it comes with your choice of grain and salad.  We chose the Basmati Rice and a Romaine Avocado Salad dressed with a light lemon vinaigrette.  HEAVEN!

This is my new obsession.  I can’t stop thinking about it.  So much so I think I will order some to take home for dinner tonight.

So if you get the change to try the Panini Cafe, please do.  The food is outstanding.  The atmosphere is nice.  It’s a family friendly place with excellent food.  Next time I’m not going to eat so much food so I can try one of their desserts…they look decadent for sure.

 

Yum

Summer is for salads!

During the summer I like to take some time on the weekend and make several different salads that we can munch on during the week. 

This salad with artichokes and white beans is super easy to put together and it tastes great.  The perfect side dish for any meal.  We ate this salad with a wonderful French Dip Crock Pot Sandwich I'll share with you later.  The flavors blended so well, and it's full of good for you ingredients.  

Since salads are loved by everyone this is a great dish to bring to potlucks or serve at a late summer party.  We ate this for several days and the texture stayed together well.  It's important when you only have a few ingredients in a dish that they are quality ingredients.  Either frozen or canned artichoke hearts work well, and a good quality bean such as Bush's will hold their shape well in this salad.  What a wonderful, light, refreshing salad!!

Enjoy!

Artichoke and White Bean Salad

serves 4

1/4 cup olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1/2 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1/8 t red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

1 14oz can of artichoke hearts in water, quartered
1 14oz can white beans, rinsed and drained (recommend Bush's)
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 T fresh oregano, chopped 

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing with the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the dressing stand for 20-30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

In a large bowl, combine the artichoke hearts, beans, onion, celery and oregano. Add the dressing and toss to coat the salad evenly. If preparing in advance cover and refrigerate salad up to 24 hours.  Take out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving.


Note:  This is not a sponsored post.  Recommendation of products are my preference.

World Grilling: Moorish Pork Kabobs

I just took another cooking class and boy was it fun!

The class held at Williams-Sonoma was a hands on class on World Grilling.  We made three different kabobs from various countries.  First off was a Greek kabob, then we made a North African kabob, and then the hit of the night (for me at least!) were the Moorish Pork Kabobs (Pinchos Morunos).

Now the Moors were Muslims and did not eat pork, so Christian Spain took the Arab seasonings traditionally used on lamb kabobs and applied them to their beloved meat, pork.  You could use the marinade on chicken just as easily and the results would be outstanding.

I just loved the savory flavors of the cumin, turmeric, oregano, and the kick of cayenne.  This is an excellent marinade!  It may be a little hot for the little ones, so leave out the cayenne pepper if feeding the kids.  

This is a definite winner, loved by all that tasted it!  So next time you grill try some flavors from around the globe.

Moorish Pork Kabobs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 Tbs. ground cumin
• 2 Tbs. ground coriander
• 1 Tbs. sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 Tbs. minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Lemon wedges for garnish 

Directions:

In a small fry pan, combine the olive oil, cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, turmeric, oregano, the 1 tsp. salt and the black pepper. Place over low heat until warmed through and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Place the pork pieces in a bowl and rub with the spice mixture. Add the garlic, parsley and lemon juice and toss well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat, or prepare a hot fire in a grill.

Thread the meat onto skewers and season with salt. Place on the grill pan or a grill rack and grill, turning once, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter and serve with lemon wedges.

 

Serves 8.

 

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Savoring Series, Savoring Spain & Portugal, by Joyce Goldstein (Time-Life Books, 2000).