Recipe: Grilled Cheese with Arugula and Plum Preserves

Alternate title: Grown up Grilled Cheese #1.  The grilled cheese is such a wonderful thing, even its basic form of plastic wrapped American Cheese on white bread is simple toasted perfection.  Luckily, we live in a world where some perfection can be built upon for something even better (and no more difficult).

This version combines several wonderful flavors.  The saltiness of the cheese is played off the sweetness of the little bit of preserves (feel free to use your favorite, I used plum but cannot wait to try it with fig), which in turn plays off the slight bitterness of the arugula. If you have it, a thin slice of prosciutto would probably be lovely as well.  This came together with what I had on hand, but feel free to switch up the bread and cheese to your liking.

You will need:

One good slice of munster cheese (2 slices if pre-sliced)
2 pieces of bread (I used a multigrain sandwich bread)
Small handful of arugula leaves, gently washed and dried
Plum preserves
Small pat of butter

Bloggers Note: I'm assuming you know how to make a grilled cheese/know what to do from here...but for the sake of the post, I am going to explain anyway.  Thank you for your indulgence.

Start off by assembling the sandwich: On one slice of bread smear a thin layer of the preserves, top that with one layer of arugula leaves, top that with the slice of cheese, and finish it off with the top piece of bread.

Melt the pat of butter in a saute pan over medium low to medium heat.  When it has melted place the bread preserve side down and cook until the side is golden brown.  Flip and repeat.  The sandwich is done when both sides are golden.  Enjoy immediately.