Veggie-Stuffed Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Veggie-Stuffed Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Each year around Halloween, a few friends of mine, better known as the 10th Street fam, rent a cabin in the Catskills Mountains in upstate New York. On the agenda: eating, drinking, watching the fall season in it’s full glory and lots of random shenanighans. While the menu was always made up of spicy, hearty comfort foods, we always had one simple dish on the menu: Veggie Stuffed Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

This particular sandwich is the creation of my good friend, Dipen and very reminiscent of grilled cheese sandwiches most desi mom’s made. It’s cheesy, spicy and super easy to make. The first time Dipen volunteered to make this Sandwich, he was very excited about this new hand-powered food chopper and slicer that he got from somewhere. Not sure if it was the fresh mountain air, the alcohol or combination of it all, but watching Dipen make those sandwiches was like watching an infomercial. He quickly chopped up some onions, tomatoes, jalepenos, green bell peppers and cilantro and mixed it in a bowl with hefty pinches of taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Then he took some sliced bread, buttered them up and threw them on a hot pan. Then he threw on some sliced cheese, layered it up with the veggie mix, another sliced cheese and topped it with another slice of bread.

Unfortunately, I was not able to join the 10th Street crew on the cabin trip this year, but that doesn’t mean I have to miss out on the sandwiches.. Of course, I made some of my own modifications.

Here’s what my version looks like! Happy Halloween!

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Onion, diced

• 2 tbsp Poblano Pepper, diced

• 2 tbsp Roasted Corn (Regular corn works fine too)

• 1 Mushroom, diced

• 2 tbsp Tomatoes, diced (remove the seeds so that they don’t mash up)

• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro

• 2 slices of Cheese, cut in to quarters, giving you 8 small slices (I used deli slices of pepper jack and colby jack. Feel free to use what you like)

• 1/4 tsp Taco Seasoning

• 1/4 tsp chili powderSalt and Pepper to TasteButter

Directions:

• Heat up skillet or pan over Medium heat and add in the peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and corn

• Without stirring too much let the veggies heat up and slightly char Turn the heat down and stir in the taco seasoning, chili powder, salt and pepper

• Put the mix in a separate bowl to cool down and stir in the chopped cilantro

• Generously butter one side of 2 pieces of sliced bread

• Place both slices of the bread, butter-side-down, onto the hot pan and add 4 small pieces of cheese to each slice

• Turn the heat down to low, and cover the pan for about 90 seconds (This creates steam and melts the cheese)

• Uncover the pan once the cheese is melted and add the veggie mix onto 1 slice of the bread

• Take the other slice of bread with out the veggie mix and very carefully place it on top of the slice with the veggie mix using a spatula

• Don’t press down too hard, as the cheese and filling will come out of the sides

• Gently flip once or twice until the sandwich is lightly brown on both sides

• Serve hot and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce