Admittedly, I am totally late to the panini press party. But I’ve totally fallen for mine.

After purchasing one on a bit of a whim, then barely using it, I’ve suddenly discovered the many and often unexpected ways to use it to make my weeknight cooking faster, easy and less messy.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, for example, cooked so quickly and so well, there was no time for them to dry out. Bacon crisped up perfectly in no time. French toast on the panini press totally rocked.

And don’t even get me started about the hash browns.

So for this recipe, I decided to do the entire meal on the press — meat and a veggie side.
For the meat, I opted for turkey tenderloins sliced into thin medallions. If you’d rather do chicken, just get thinly sliced chicken breasts or slice regular breasts into cutlets. A quick Asian-style marinade effortlessly added tons of flavor, and the medallions cooked in no time on the press.

For the side, I went with sliced portobello mushrooms and asparagus, both of which have the heft to stand up to the high heat of the press.

Panini Press Turkey Medallions with Mushrooms and Asparagus
Serves: 4

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Ground black pepper
1 1/4 pounds turkey tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 bunch asparagus, bottoms trimmed, halved crosswise
2 large portobello mushrooms, cut into thick slices
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Add the turkey rounds, turning to coat each. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a second medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, hoisin and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add the asparagus and mushrooms, then toss to coat evenly. Set aside until the meat is ready.

Heat the oven to 200°.

Once the meat has marinated, heat a panini press or other countertop grill (if your press has temperature settings, use high).

Arrange the turkey rounds on the panini press, close it and cook for 3 1/2 minutes, or until browned on both sides. Transfer the rounds to an oven-safe platter, sprinkle with sesame seeds, then place in the oven to keep warm.

Arrange the asparagus and mushrooms on the panini press, close it and cook for 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are nicely seared and just tender. Sprinkle them with the salt, then cook for another minute. Serve the vegetables with the turkey medallions.

What do you do when you want to roast chicken for dinner but it’s so hot you don’t want to turn on your oven?

Don’t.

Let me introduce you to my new favorite gadget, an oven that won’t make your house feel like a sauna: the NuWave Pro Infrared Oven.
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MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It’s not just the picture of beef on a new billboard in North Carolina that tries to catch drivers’ attention, it’s the aroma coming from the sign.

The billboard on N.C. 150 in central North Carolina emits the smell of black pepper and charcoal to promote a new line of beef available at the Bloom grocery chain. Bloom is part of the Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion chain.

The billboard shows a fork piercing a piece of meat.

A Bloom spokeswoman says the billboard will emit scents from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day until June 18.

A high-powered fan at the bottom of the billboard spreads the aroma by blowing air over cartridges loaded with fragrance oil.

So often, we have to choose between convenience and kindness to the earth. Bare by Solo can help.

Bare is a line of convenience dishware that gives us earth-friendly options in single-use plates and cups without sacrificing quality or functionality. Bare stands for Bringing Alternative Resources for the Environment.

The best thing I can say about bare is it is attractive, and you don’t have to give up disposable plates and plates to save the planet.

Made for restaurants and consumers, Bare by Solo is made using recycled, recyclable, compostable and renewable resource materials. They are attractive, sturdy, guilt-free and so convenient. Read the full story

So, it’s a few weeks into the new year and you’re already having trouble sticking to your resolution to shed some pounds.

Sure, you need all the willpower you can get. But you also need the right culinary tools: Think foods, appliances, cookbooks and the like that can assist and inspire you throughout your bulge-battling journey.

With that in mind, we surveyed the diet landscape to see what’s new or noteworthy in such tools. Our 10 choices may not be right for everyone, but they represent a starting point for those seeking a path to slimness.
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Take the guesswork out of calorie counting with the Measure Up Bowl.

These clever portion bowls have the serving sizes embossed on the interior, designed to keep hungry snackers from overindulging.

Both microwave and dishwasher safe, the classic Measure Up Bowl ($19.99) is for soups, cereals, fruits, pasta and other foods with larger serving sizes.

The small Measure Up Bowl ($13.99) is perfect for nuts, granola, and ice cream, as it’s designed for foods that are calorie dense, and/or high fat.

The Measure Up Bowls also come in a two-bowl set, one classic and one small ($29.99).

So now you can indulge, just in moderation!

Available online at www.measureupbowl.com

I have a new must-have gadget.

It is called HUGlight, and it is a flexible flashlight that can be wrapped around your neck or arm, or a railing, to illuminate any task, hands free.

I’ve used it for grilling and walking the dog, but the uses are endless.

It comes in lots of colors, and has 2 super-flexible, soft arms with two high-intensity LEDs on each end. HUG has one wide-angle LED and one spot LED on each arm. LEDs can be lit individually or together.

The HUGlight is $14.95, buy here.

So you’re wandering through The Gardens Mall, returning holiday gifts that didn’t fit for the gifts you wanted anyway, and suddenly you get hungry (shopping is a sport, after all).

Hang a right into the food court, past the fast-food joints, and head to California Pizza Kitchen, where you’ll find a relatively diverse and healthy selection of eats in the home of the deliciously decadent pizza pie.

I am not a chain restaurant fan, but the fresh, flavorful fare and gobsmacking variety of the menu is impressive — many of the pasta dishes can be made with multi-grain penne, the salads are huge, and, if you must, all the cheesy, glistening fun foods are delicious, too. You were gonna start exercising tomorrow anyway, right?

California Pizza Kitchen, The Gardens Mall food court. (561) 625-4682