Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Cheddar, Dijon Mustard & Sauteed Balsamic Mushrooms

While I have had mixed experiences with their large cousins the Portobellos, I think those ordinary, decidedly-far-less-gourmet little white mushrooms are wonderful things. Maybe it's because they are so delicious, or because I know they're so healthy. Or maybe because they are already cleaned and sliced when you buy them. That might be the one.

Oozy deliciousness!

This is basically your traditional grilled cheese sandwich, with the addition of balsamic-marinated and sauteed mushrooms. Yum, right? This recipe makes one sandwich, and would make a great weekend lunch, though you probably don't need the recipe at all after the mushroom bit. Still, in the interest of consistency...

Ingredients:

4 oz mushrooms (1/2 box), cleaned and sliced

Deli roll or 2 slices multi grain bread

A few thin slices of mild cheddar or Swiss cheese

Balsamic vinegar 

1 clove garlic, smashed

Cooking spray

Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

Directions:

1. In a small-medium frying pan, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, adding garlic and mushrooms. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add salt and pepper, and continue to saute until mushrooms are tender and nicely browned. This should take about 8-10 minutes, or more if you want yours extra browned.

2. Add about 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, immediately remove from heat, and mix to coat mushrooms. Heat a grill pan (over medium heat), sandwich press or George Foreman Grill, spraying with cooking spray.

3. Thinly butter your bread or rolls on the "outside" surfaces, and put a thin layer of dijon mustard on the "inside." Spoon mushroom mixture onto bread/roll (omitting the garlic), stack layers of cheese on top and top with other piece of bread or top of roll.

4. Grill your sandwich for about 5 minutes on each side, or longer if you like them extra-crispy, just be sure the cheese is melted. Slice in half and serve hot with extra Dijon mustard.

With a green salad, this was a delicious and very satisfying meal. I think that's why I like white button mushrooms more than Portobellos; I think that they tend to retain their "meaty" texture more, and have a more substantial mouthfeel. Or maybe I overcooked my Portobellos? I can't be sure, but now I have to try again. There are worse things!

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches with Red Onion, Tomato & Fresh Mozzarella

I have a long-standing distaste for eggplant. As a kid, when I tried my grandmother's eggplant Parmesan, I was shocked. Her ravioli, Italian wedding soup, pasta (which she always called "macaroni) and incredible repertoire of Italian cookies were so delicious, so perfectly crafted through decades of practice, each all fantastic in their own right. But this - this mushy, squishy stuff - people actually liked this? And indeed, like it they did. At age 10 (which was probably the last time I ate eggplant, until tonight) I was so utterly horrified by the texture of the vegetable that I had effectively sworn it off.

But 1) it is eggplant season, 2) in theory we all must grow up eventually, and 3) "eggplant" is my favorite color, so I thought it was time I give them another chance. And Brady, the resident eggplant-parm connoisseur, told me that if I like grilled portobellos, then the texture of eggplant would probably not gross me out anymore. There are many varieties of eggplant, and I was lucky enough to find one of the fanciest-looking ones at my very own grocery store:

 This sandwich, which is somewhat like a Mediterranean veggie burger, combines two to three slices of grilled eggplant with fresh tomato, mozzarella, some thinly sliced red onion with a bit of balsamic vinegar on bakery rolls. The Kaiser rolls we had on hand were slightly over-sized with respect to the circumference of the eggplant, so for high presentation points you probably want to use a globe eggplant and/or smaller buns, or toasted English muffins (why didn't I think of that before?). Likewise, larger balls of mozzarella make for better stacking. My recipe serves two:

Ingredients:

1 eggplant of any variety, sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch-thick rounds

1 large ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4 inch-thick slices 

1 slicing tomato, cut into... you guessed it, 1/4 inch-thick slices

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 buns or English muffins

Balsamic vinegar

Red or white wine vinegar

Cooking spray

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Line a tray or platter with paper towels. Lay the rounds of eggplant on the paper towels in a single layer. Salt generously on both sides and allow to sit while you prepare the other ingredients.*

2. In a shallow dish, combine 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of red or white wine vinegar, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place sliced onions and tomatoes in the dish and turn to coat.

3. Spray a grill pan with cooking spray and heat it up over high heat.

4. When the eggplant slices have been sitting for at least 15 minutes, pat dry with paper towels and brush on both sides with olive oil. Grill for 3-4 minutes per side. Meanwhile, toast your buns, if desired.

5. To build your sandwich, first lay out your buns. Then stack two to three grilled eggplant slices, adding a slice or two of tomato and some red onion on top. Add a slice or two of fresh mozzarella and top with some fresh basil leaves.

Cook's Note: The salting-over-paper-towels step and general concept for this sandwich came from Elise's Grilled Eggplant Sandwich Recipe on SimplyRecipes.com. Her cooking instructions offer much more direction for using a traditional grill, but they can be easily adapted to grill pans, broilers or George Foreman Grills.

Sandwich construction: Phase 1, where I realize that Kaiser rolls are either too large or too small for this sandwich, and I can't decide which.

So, here's the thing. I can't really claim to be an eggplant convert. I can't say that the texture didn't gross me out a little, or that I didn't wonder what this fancy-looking vegetable was doing with all those thousands of tiny seeds. What I can say is that like many things, I can definitely enjoy it on a "once in a while" basis, or purely as a change of pace from my usual favorite ingredients. It didn't hurt that the other things in this sandwich - the mozzarella, the tomato, basil and red onion - are all among my top-10 favorites.

Still, I really can't hate on this sandwich. It's all the flavors of summer wrapped up in a soft, yummy roll. Get on it!

Quote of the Day: I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant. ~ Ursula K. LeGuin

Double-Decker Pear, Havarti & Alfalfa Sprout Sandwich on Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I got the idea for this sandwich somewhere on the intertubes, but at the moment am unable to find the source. Suffice to say that the idea was not mine, but that I adore and am very grateful to the brilliant mind that thought it up. And wrote about it. On the internet.

This sweet and savory creation is what I would call a "fancy sandwich." Of course, it is still a sandwich, so its fancy only because of the scrumptious, high-quality ingredients that go into it. I am an enormous fan of creamy Danish Havarti, but this would also be delicious with brie. The sweetness of the cinnamon raisin bread is fantastic with just a little schmear of cream cheese to bring out the spice and the flavor of the sprouts.

Ingredients:

Cinnamon raisin bread - three slices per sandwich. I used Pepperidge Farm.

Alfalfa sprouts

Havarti or brie cheese, sliced as thinly as possible

Cream cheese - I used the "1/3 less fat" variety

1 Bartlett pear, thinly sliced (this is enough for two sandwiches)

Directions:

1. Toast your cinnamon raisin bread, and apply a thin layer of cream cheese to one side of each slice.

2. To assemble, layer cheese and pear on one slice of bread, then pile a tuft of alfalfa on top. Add a second slice of bread and repeat.

3. Serve with a vegetable or salad, but be sure to eat it while the bread is still warm. (Alternatively, let the toast cool before building your sandwiches and they would be fantastic to take on a picnic. Que romantico!)

These sandwiches are magic, so I'm a bit sad that nighttime photography is such a futile endeavor in my kitchen. Perhaps you will just have to take my word for it when I say that they are as lovely as they are delicious, and a huge bang for your effort buck. I served mine with some steamed green beans.
 

Quote of the Day: Sandwiches are wonderful. You don't need a spoon or a plate! ~ Paul Lynde