Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Spicing Up a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

My mom recently had the flu. As she was recovering one of the things she most wanted was a grilled cheese sandwich. I know my own kids have often ordered grilled cheese sandwiches when we go out to coffee shops for dinner. And almost all restaurants have grilled cheese sandwiches on their children’s menu.

I have many ideas to spice up the ordinary grilled cheese sandwhich:

Add a slice of meat to your sandwich. We very often add turkey. Other folks will add a slice of ham or a slice of bologna. You can also add already cooked bacon or any other lunch meat. If you have a leftover slice of meatloaf, add that to your grilled cheese sandwich.

Vary the types of cheese you use. Add one slice of swiss cheese and one slice of cheddar cheese. Every cheese has its own distinct flavor. You can also experiment with low fat and fat free cheeses. Use one slice of regular cheese and two slices of fat free cheese. If you like spice, try some of the spicy cheeses. My daughter loves jalapeno Monterey jack cheese. We have also bought dill flavored havarti cheese. Each of these cheeses brings a wonderful flavor to the sandwich.

Add sliced tomatoes and other vegetables before grilling. I love putting both turkey and tomato on my sandwiches. You can also add sliced mushrooms and sliced onions.

Add mustard to the sandwich before grilling. Mustards add a wonderful tangy flavor. Try different mustard flavors.

Kids love to dip grilled cheese sandwiches in both ranch dressing and ketchup.

Add some salsa and a slice of onion for a wonderful Mexican flavor.

For kids add potato chips to the inside of the sandwich. My kids loved the crunch inside their sandwich. Try BBQ potato chips also for a tangy flavor inside the sandwich.

Vary the bread you use. Rye bread has a very different flavor than sourdough bread. Try toasting an English muffin. Then add cheese and tomato and put under the broiler. This is a wonderful grilled cheese variation.

Next time you want a grilled cheese sandwich, try some of these ideas for a great meal.

Audrey :)

5 comments:

TJACK said...

it's also fun to vary the shapes of the sandwiches. you could do circles with tuna cans or hearts or stars.

Aimee said...

We LOVE LOVE LOVE grilled cheese around here. Tonite we actually had it for dinner!

We put in pepperoni and mozzerella cheese instead of just the plain mundane kind sometimes. I love pepperoni!

Rochelle R. said...

I am a big grilled cheese fan. When I put a slice of meat in it I tear the cheese in half and put half on each side of the meat so the sandwich will stick together easily. I also like broiled cheese toast. Yum!

Dorsey said...

I spiced up ours the other night, I made some shredded taco-spiced chicken and added it between two slices of muenster cheese on french bread..and it was YUMMMMMMY!!!!

So So Simple said...

When I make cheese on toast as we call it...we only use one slice grill one side turn over a good amount of your favourite relish
Slices of tomato favourite cheese and lardons of bacon on top
Delicious.