Which flavors go with this soup?

[Honey Bee]

For the Oscars, I am having a comfort-themed girl's night at my house. Everyone comes in PJs, no make-up, etc...no fuss. To say with the theme, I am making a big pot of tomato soup. This particular Cooking Light soup uses veggie broth, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and half and half. I have never made it before, but it has good reviews on the CL board.

To go with this, I want to make a couple of varities of cold or hot sandwiches but am having a hard time narrowing down my options and predicting what will go well with the Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup. Here are my guidelines:

1. Sandwiches must be vegetarian
2. Sandwiches may not include mushrooms or olives
3. Preference given to sandwiches that can be made on a large loaf of bread, heated in the oven and sliced (for ease of preperation)

Thanks Hounds!

[Honey Bee]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I made the soup (which was great a recipe, btw) and a veggie mufalleta-style sandwich (pesto, eggplant, mozzerella, murshrooms in a hollowed out sourdough round and then baked). I also served Ina Garten's pan fried onion dip, and baked brie en croute with fig preserves and walnuts inside.

Thanks for the great input.

[hollyeve]

Here's an idea for you... Bruschetta instead of sandwiches :D Make a variety: pesto, roasted red pepper, and goat cheese; canellini bean and sundried tomato; ricotta, dates and pistachios; apple and brie... The possibilities are endless!

[soypower]

use a ciabatta loaf to make a big sandwich that can be sliced in individual pieces. brush with olive oil and layer with thick slices of brie, roasted red peppers, grilled onions and arugula. put in a pannini press until brie gets melty. serve warm.

[WCchopper]

Tapenade, roasted red peppers, fontina, olive oil. Warm through in the oven to melt the fontina or toast like grilled cheese.

[pemma]

Maybe sautee up some onions and bell peppers of various colors, add in some greated parmasean cheese at the end and serve on french bread?

[Gio]

That's a very nice combination, especially if the onions are carmalized.

[Honey Bee]

I do not own any sorty of pannini press or Foreman type grill. Just your basic skillets and pans. Otherwise, I really like your idea of grilled cheese bar, of sorts.

Grilled cheese is always good, but that can go in so many directions that I have a hard time fihuring out what would go well with the soup. Some I have considered are:

cheddar and mango chutney
brie and fig jam
machego and avocado
pimiento cheese
soyrizo and monterrey jack
goat cheese and cranberries

Please help me focus. There are lots of delicous options, but I want to complement the soup.

[galleygirl]

ANY cheese with pesto...press the sandwiches by putting your biggest skillet on the stove, then putting a second one on top. Flip after a minute...You could have a few set up, depending on how many skillets you have. Pesto works with gouda, cheddar, goat cheese, havarti; just about anything you can come up with. try one that has oven roasted tomatos or extra garlic in it to really make them smell alluring...No one ever thinks of it, and is always impressed.

[Honey Bee]

That sounds perfect. Okay, there is one type of sandwich. I want to do 2 or 3 types. Keep them coming.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[ipsedixit]

Believe it not, a "vegetarian Philly cheesesteak" is very good.

Slightly toasted hoagie roll stuffed with grilled onions and topped with Cheese whiz and voila ... a vegetarian Philly cheesesteak.

[missfunkysoul]

I'd get a couple of loaves of different yummy breads, a couple of cheeses, roast a big pan of veggies and cut up some raw onion/tomato/etc. Then everyone can design their own grilled cheese! Yum.

[QueenB]

Ina Garten's Roasted Pepper and goat cheese sandwiches
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

[trentyzan]

Do you have a pannini press, Geo. Foreman grill, or waffle iron? You could make pannini ahead of time and then cook them fresh. I like them with prosciutto, mandolined red onion and jalapeno, cornichon, dijon, and swiss. But you could do a make-your-own thing by just pre-slicing some ingredients.

[chocabot]

My first answer would be the grilled cheese.

Otherwise a roasted veg sandwich with goat cheese and dressed with pesto or balsamic.

[diablo]

There's a restaurant near where I work that makes a really good roasted veggies sandwich using eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, onions, red peppers and tomatoes marinated in balsamic/olive oil (they use shrooms too, but you can leave that out or sub something else) topped with melted smoked mozzerella. Served on crusty roll. I make it at home sometimes and it's pretty easy.

[C. Hamster]

Or you could do a slightly different riff on this and make veggie muffalatta sandwiches

[ipsedixit]

Grilled cheese sandwiches of some sort?