CEiMB: Sweet & Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This one is only one week late – that’s not so bad, right?

Sorry for my lack of posting lately. You would think that six weeks at my new job and two weeks with the new puppy would be enough time to get settled, yet I come home every afternoon completely exhausted. I have regularly been taking pictures of my recipes and editing them; I just haven’t set aside time for actual blogging.

Anyway, last Thursday Leslie of Lethally Delicious was the host for CEiMB, and her choice was Sweet & Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. I was so excited because Rachel ♥s grilled cheese!

This recipe is actually very similar to my regular grilled cheese sandwich – I always use two types of cheese, add tomato, and use cooking spray instead of butter. The only real difference this time was the addition of sautéed red onion, which I found gave the sandwiches a really nice flavor. I also enjoyed the spicy kick from the pepper jack cheese.

I served this for dinner with tomato soup for myself and salad for Scott. We both enjoyed this meal, however Scott requested that next time we have these sandwiches for lunch instead of dinner.

Thanks to Leslie for choosing a great twist on a classic. Also, congratulations to her for her recent one year blogiversary!

Mini Goat Cheese & Honey Tarts

For the past few months, I have been a member of a book club started by some of my coworkers, and it is always one of the highlights of my week. (Hi ladies!) To be completely honest, though, we like to eat as much as we like to read. We started out with early morning meetings at Starbucks, discussing the books over coffee and pastries. Then we moved to afternoon meetings at Panera or the Barnes & Noble cafe. Now, we still have our regular weekly meetings with snacks, but the final meeting for each book is held at a member’s house where we watch the book’s corresponding movie and enjoy a pot luck dinner. To make it even better, we have themed dinners to celebrate the latest book.

So far, I have contributed to these meals with a different course each time, covering salad, main entree and dessert (red velvet cake for our all-red Dracula party). For our latest party – honey themed for The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd – I claimed appetizers for something new.

So, I took it upon myself to create an appetizer that incorporated honey but was still a savory bite to begin the meal. I looked at what I already had at home to add and found walnuts and various herbs. Enter goat cheese and pre-made phyllo cups and you have a tasty appetizer than uses a lot of my favorite ingredients!

Mini Goat Cheese and Honey Tarts
makes 20 appetizers

• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1/2 t. dried basil
• 1/4 t. dried thyme
• pinch coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 T. honey
• 2 packages phyllo cups (from the freezer section)
• chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the first five ingredients until combined and creamy.

Use a small ice cream scoop or melon baller to spoon the filling into the cups, being careful not to crack the phyllo.

Sprinkle each with the chopped walnuts and lightly press down into the filling.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until filling is slightly melted and the walnuts are lightly toasted.

At first I was afraid these would be too much like a dessert from the sweetness of the honey, but the herbs and pepper add a nice savory contrast. Overall, I think they were a big hit at the party – at least the platter was empty when I left for home!

What are some of your favorite, easily prepared appetizers?

More highlights from the weekend.

The boyfriend's sister and I went to the farmers' market on Saturday. I am so lucky to have one close that is open all of the time - every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I intended to just browse during this trip, but of course I came back with several purchases.

When I got back, I had some goat cheese on a mini whole wheat bagel and an Americano:



This goat cheese is fabulous. They actually had 7-8 different flavors of spreadable goat cheese, as well as come marinated in oil and herbs and several hard cheeses. I'm a sucker for a free sample and bought a whole container:

I also got some veggies. I mentioned a few posts ago that I am trying to incorporate at least one new fruit or veggie per week, whether it is something completely new or just a new variety/color of something I already like.

Clockwise from top left: yellow tomatoes, carnival squash (isn't it festive?), baby eggplants, and Cherokee purple tomatoes

My dad bought some of the Cherokee purple last time we went and gave one to me - it is seriously the best tomato I have ever had.

I also got two Honeycrisp apples, which was amazing because I usually dislike any apple other than Granny Smith. These were very tasty, however, and I will buy more. They are kind of sweet, a little tart, and very crisp (I HATE grainy apples!!).

Also a big chrysanthemum plant. Definitely not a necessity, but pretty. I ♥ orange flowers!

Finally, some pink roses from my sweet boyfriend. Not to take away from the farmers' market theme, but they are too beautiful not to include. I think I'll keep him.