Grilled Cheese.

The underestimated Grilled Cheese...yes, it IS for grownups as well. I hate to see this perfectly delicious sandwich bastardized time and again. Crappy white bread, a few pieces of that plastic wrapped mystery cheese, loaded with butter and grilled into a gooey, unflattering, unappetizing sorry excuse for a "sandwich" that people feed their children. People: take note....the grilled cheese is quite simple, and so satisfying, but the key is to use top notch ingredients.

You'll need....

• 2 slices of GOOD thick, whole grain bread.
  {think "Texas Toast"...but healthier}
  

• GOOD cheese
  {think Gruyere, Muenster, Swiss...}
  
• GOOD whole grain spicy mustard

It's that simple. Now, the process:

To begin, swipe some delicious whole grain dijon mustard onto both sides of the bread. Layer your cheese between the bread and then close it up! You can lightly butter the outsides of the sandwich, but I prefer to put a few tablespoons of good olive oil into the skillet and then place my sandwich in. You don't get that salty goodness though that you'd get with butter - so at the end I sprinkle a dash of salt on top. The key to the perfectly, evenly melted grilled cheese is to cook it on a medium heat -- so that the cheese slowly melts through out. It helps to place a lid on top of the skillet as well, which helps with even-cheese-melt-distribution. Voila! The PERFECT grilled cheese. Now...if you want to get creative, here are some of my favorite additions:

- one slice of high quality proscuitto
- thinly sliced tomato and onion
- guacamole {and bacon!}
- thinly sliced fresh pineapple

Grown Up Grilled Cheese

This cold, nippy weather calls for grilled cheese...and the perfect compliment to this delightful sandwich is a delicious bowl of SOUP! SO, today I made Mom and me a Corn Chowder to go along with our Grilled Cheese + Proscuitto sandwiches. Usually all of my soups are made from scratch with fresh ingredients, but I was feeling a bit lazy. Here it is:

- one box of Trader Joe's Corn Chowder + Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup
- one bag of frozen corn
- one onion, diced and sauteed
- cilantro {dried: 2 large tablespoons...fresh: 1 small handful}
- a tablespoon of Cayenne Pepper for some heat
- salt + pepper to taste