Tag Archives: grilled cheese

Italian Grilled Cheese

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Veronica

I love quick, easy meals like sandwiches in the summer. Usually cold, but this is one grilled cheese I really enjoy when the temps start to rise. I think because it reminds me of bruschetta, which reminds me of summer. Probably because that’s when fresh basil abounds! This is a very nice change from the traditional grilled cheese, and I love the flavor of the basil and melty mozarella and tomato all together…almost like a Margherita pizza but in the form of a quick sandwich. Can’t beat that. Bring on the melty bruschetta/pizza sammich.

Italian Grilled Cheese

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

8 fresh basil leaves
8 thin tomato slices
4 slices provolone or mozzarella cheese
4 slices Italian bread ( 1/4″ thick)
2 tablespoons prepared Italian salad dressing

Layer the basil leaves, tomato slices and provolone cheese on two slices of bread. Top with remaining bread. Brush outsides of sandwiches with salad dressing. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted. Makes 2 sandwiches.

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Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches and tagged bruschetta, easy, grilled cheese, Italian, margherita pizza, quick, recipe, sandwich, stovetop, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Turkey & Onion Grilled Cheese

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Veronica

So so so excited today! This is probably my last month with the Secret Recipe Club, and I’m so excited that I was assigned to Desi’s blog, Steak ‘n Potatoes Kinda Gurl! I actually “met” Desi through being in Group C of the Secret Recipe Club, and have been following her since she joined. Very happy to be assigned to someone I know and love for my last hurrah!

For those who may have missed or never understood my monthly Secret Recipe Club posts, here’s the premise. You are assigned to a participating blog each month, but no one knows who’s assigned to who. It’s a secret! You secretly ~~stalk~~ browse your assigned blog and pick a recipe, make it, photograph it, and post it on reveal day. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, I think because it’s kind of like Christmas each month with a big surprise on reveal day. If this sounds like something you’d like to participate in, click here to find out how to join.

Now let’s talk gooey cheese. Since April is National Grilled Cheese Month, and I’ve been meaning to make this recipe since Desi posted it during last year’s Grilled Cheese Month, there really wasn’t any question as to which one I’d choose from her blog. I had to have this sandwich!

It was well worth the wait. Totally crazy delicious. I couldn’t find maple turkey, so I had to add in some maple flavor a different way. I was a little scared I might have ruined it, but Dennis and I both loved it! Delicious smoked turkey, sweet grilled onions, and melty Gouda cheese packed between two slices of multigrain buttery, crunchy, toasty bread make for quite the delicious sandwich. Thank you, Desi, for creating this masterpiece and thus giving me an opportunity enjoy it and spread the gooey gouda love a little further through my own blog. Love ya girl!

Also, a huge THANK YOU and shout out to our SRC leader, April Tuell, and our hostesses (especially Debbi Smith, my hostess!), and all the volunteers that keep it running. And of course, to all my group C bloggers (OK, and group A too, I enjoyed my short time with you guys as well!)! It has been a beautiful, wonderful ride and I wouldn’t trade my time in the SRC for anything. Love you guys! But I won’t miss you because I’ll still be stalking you forever! >:)

Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 small red onion, halved and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
4 slices of multigrain bread
3 tbsp or so of softened butter
4 slices (or more) of quality deli turkey (I used Applewood Smoked Turkey)
4 slices of gouda cheese

In a medium skillet, add 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the sliced red onion and saute until softened and golden brown. Remove to a small bowl and stir in the maple syrup if desired.

Spread the bread slices with 3 tablespoons softened butter. In a large skillet on medium-low, add the bread slices. If you have a large enough skillet, you can add two slices of bread at once. If not, you will need to make one sandwich at a time. Top one slice of bread with 2 slices of gouda. Then add 2 slices of turkey, then some sauteed red onions. Top with the other slice of bread, buttering the outside before you place it on top. Cook until golden brown, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side. Repeat with second sandwich.

*Yields 2 sandwiches

Recipe source: adapted from SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl.

Check out the other Group C Secret Recipe Club Posts by clicking below!

55 Comments

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, My Favorites, Secret Recipe Club and tagged best, gouda, grilled cheese, grilled onions, National Grilled Cheese Month, sandwich, turkey. Bookmark the permalink.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Veronica

Grilled cheese sandwiches paired with tomato soup seem to be childhood staples in America, but I never had a grilled cheese sandwich until I was a teen, and never with tomato soup until much later. I remember when I went to babysit my neighbor’s little boy she asked me to make him a grilled cheese sandwich and I meekly asked her how to do it. She was dumbfounded, needless to say. That was my first grilled cheese experience, at sixteen, but after that I started making them at home.

No one gave me the memo that tomato soup pairs perfectly with them until a few years later, but I ignored it since I’ve never liked condensed tomato soup. That is until I discovered Pacific Natural Foods’ Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup. That’s when I started serving the classic combo of grilled cheese and tomato soup. I loved that stuff!

This homemade version is thicker and a little tangier, perhaps because I used jarred red peppers and yogurt rather than roasting them myself and adding heavy cream or milk, but it is just as delicious with the benefit of a homemade taste. Add more or less sugar to your tastes, and if you decide to use peppers you roasted yourself, please let me know how that turns out–that’s how I’m going to try it next!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with link

1 jar (12 oz) roasted red peppers in brine, drained
1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can (28 oz) tomato puree/crushed tomatoes
1 cup low-sodium and fat-free chicken broth
3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
Croutons, for serving

Combine drained peppers and diced tomatoes in a blender. Puree until smooth. Alternatively, you can place them in your pot and use an immersion blender to puree until as smooth as you like. I left some little chunks in mine because I like a little texture. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat, or just add it to the pot if your puree is already in it. Add pepper-tomato mixture, tomato puree, chicken broth, sugar, salt and pepper. Heat just to simmering, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in yogurt. Return to stove and heat through. Ladle soup into bowls; top each with a few croutons.

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 139 calories; 2.5 g fat; 24 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 3.5 g protein. (Calories calculated with 4 croutons per serving)

Recipe source: adapted from Family Circle, February 2011.

15 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Soups & Stews and tagged carton, childhood favorites, children, comfort food, diet, grilled cheese, healthy, light, low-fat, pacific natural foods, pacific naturals, roasted red pepper and tomato soup recipe, tomato soup, winter. Bookmark the permalink.

Barbecue Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich & Giveaway Winner!

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Veronica

Yes, it’s true. This sandwich has cheese. It has barbecue sauce. It has bacon. And it’s wonderful! I came up with it last fall as an excuse to incorporate some of the Flatlanders Spicy Barbeque Sauce that I love so much into my lunch. Don’t you just love it when desperation leads to inspiration?

One of the comments on the giveaway announcement, in response to “what’s your favorite thing to make with barbecue sauce?”, was using it as a dipping sauce for grilled cheese! So you see, great minds think alike! My other favorites include putting it on baked potatoes with nothing else (I can vouch for this idea–I’ve done it and it’s fabulous!), mixing it with ranch for a dipping sauce, making grilled tofu with it, and using it as a sauce on sweet potato fries! As you can tell, I’m not a huge meat lover and my favorites reflect that.

I do, however, have quite an affinity for bacon. Which leads me back to this sandwich. It has bacon on it. And you should make it. ‘Nuff said.

Barbecue Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Printable Recipe

Yield: 1 sandwich

2 slices Texas toast
2-3 T barbecue sauce
2 oz sliced sharp or smoked cheddar cheese
4-6 slices cooked bacon
1 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Butter or margarine

Heat a skillet over medium. Spread the barbecue sauce over the bread slices, then over one slice arrange cheddar cheese slices, bacon over that, then sprinkle the Monterey Jack over the bacon. Top with remaining bread slice. Melt some butter or margarine in the skillet and place the sandwich on top of the puddle, scooting it around until the bread absorbs the butter. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until cheddar looks melted, then remove and melt more butter in the pan, flip the sandwich and cook additional 4 minutes and serve hot.

Veronica’s Notes: Your sandwich will require several minutes less cooking time if you use regular bread. Also, the Monterey Jack isn’t necessary but I like to glue the bacon, cheese and bread all together by putting cheese on both sides. Change it up as you desire!

OK, you’ve been patient and now I’ll get to the real reason you’re reading this post. :) It was so much fun hosting my first giveaway and thank you all so much for participating–I really enjoyed reading about your favorite things to make with barbecue sauce! Congratulations to Suzie, commenter #19, you’ve won the set of three Flatlanders barbeque products! Suzie, I’ll email you to get your address and get them out to you!