Rooting around in my freezer yielded a package of havarti and a package of fontina, cheeses I buy specifically to make Café Muse's Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. When I tell people about this sandwich (made with fresh basil, tomato and honey), they look at me like I'm crazy but you will be amazed at how wonderful this is. You may be tempted to leave out one of the ingredients (like the honey) but unless you are allergic or absolutely hate it, don't. The combination is inspired.Since I am sharing Oprah recipes today... Recently Martha Stewart was a guest and she had an entertainment suggestion that I think is also inspired: A Grilled Cheese Sandwich bar. If you follow the links, you will see her suggestions for fillings and combinations. The next time I make grilled cheese sandwiches, I am going to try the gruyére, green apple and sage on rye combination.
There is something so fresh and luscious about a meal that you make using herbs from your own garden. Right now I have two kinds of basil, parsley, and chives. I need to plant seeds for more herbs and winter vegetables. I've been neglecting my garden lately and in my absence, the parsley has grown to mammoth proportions. It's a little tough but I figured it would still be edible finely chopped up in Tabbouleh, the middle eastern salad made from bulgar, tomatoes, scallions, parsley, mint and lemon juice.
I made the recipe from the Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean cookbook, my nominee for BEST vegetarian cookbook of all time. There are 250+ recipes and nothing I have ever made has turned out less than delicious. When I searched online, I couldn't find the exact recipe that I made, but their website has a recipe that is close. I did not add pistachios or honey. The book version also called for cucumbers but I was out. The salad still turned out delicious.
I'm not sure I'd serve these two dishes together to guests. The tabbouleh is a very strong dish and really overpowered the delicate flavors in the sandwich. Next time I'll make a green salad to go with the grilled cheese and save the tabbouleh for something more hearty like a gyro.
The Results
Delicious!
Ratings
- Difficulty: Both are easy to make
- Time to prepare: The bulgar takes about an hour; the grilled cheese about 10 minutes
- Prognosis: Both these recipes are favorites
My Shopping List
Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.
The Tally
- The day's tally: $0
- Total this week so far: $25
- Total this month, to date: $25
Yum! The combination of Gruyere and honey is quite interesting. Just might have to try that one. And, I love, love, love tabbouleh.
ReplyDeleteThat sandwich looks divine! Will definitely try these - the sooner the better! I love the Martha Steward grilled cheese sandwich bar idea, too - there were so many awesome-sounding combinations I want to try. I am beyond hungry now . . . *drool*
ReplyDeleteWow, the tabbouleh is fantastic!
ReplyDeletePantry Shopper had left me with a tub of the stuff in my fridge, and today I had it for lunch. I normally like rice dishes anyway, but I was surprised by the strong and wonderful citrus-y flavor here.
Also, I've always thought that parsley added an unpleasant bitter taste, but none of that here (even though I could tell it was parsley). The whole thing just had a fresh fresh fresh flavor.
What a yummy dish!
I'm so glad I'm coming over to your house. All this food is driving me nuts...grilled cheese is considered kids food, right?
ReplyDelete