Grilled Cheese Deluxe

One thing I’ve noticed about myself over the years is that my ambition level goes through cycles. At times, I will be extremely ambitious and will do a lot of cooking, cleaning, art work, exercise, etc. That will last for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, then will gradually taper off until I am left so ambitionless that microwaving something seems like a lot of work. Fortunately for me, that total ambitionless state usually only lasts for a day or two before my ambition level starts cycling back up, but for a few days on either side of that, while I am not a total slug, I could still be described as a couch potato. On those days, I want something that is pretty quick and easy to cook and equally easy to eat, and also is comfort-foody. One of my favorites has always been a grilled cheese sandwich.

When I was growing up, what my mother called a “grilled cheese sandwich” really wasn’t one. As I mentioned before, my mother loved using her microwave and didn’t really care for using other means of cooking, so she devised a semi-reasonable facsimile of a grilled cheese sandwich. All it required was bread, butter, cheese, a toaster, a microwave and either a paper towel or a microwave safe plate (paper or otherwise). First you toast two slices of bread, butter one side of each slice, put one or two slices of cheese between the unbuttered sides of the bread, put it on a plate or paper towel and microwave it for 30 to 45 seconds to melt the cheese. And there you have what I now call faux grilled cheese. That worked fine for me as a kid - I’d never really had grilled cheese fixed any other way. But then I grew up and learned how to make a “real” grilled cheese, and was no longer satisfied by the fake. But even after I learned about grilling it properly, it was still just cheese and toasted, buttered bread. Until I met DH. He introduced me to putting mayonnaise or Miracle Whip on it before grilling, which I found a little strange at first. But then we stopped in a restaurant in Arizona late one night after driving for about 12 hours, and grilled cheese changed for me forever.

There we were, exhausted, hungry, just wanting something easy on the stomach and easier on the jaws, since we were too worn out to chew much. So we ordered grilled cheese sandwiches. But much to our surprise and delight, what they served us was not simply cheese on buttered, grilled bread. I present to you now what I have come to refer to as Grilled Cheese Deluxe:

Grilled Cheese Deluxe

2 thick slices of sourdough bread (or other bread of your choice)
1 thick or 2 regular slices American or Cheddar cheese
Mayonnaise or salad dressing (such as Miracle Whip)
Butter or margarine (softened or whipped to an easily spreadable consistency)
1 thick slice of tomato (or 2 thick slices if it is a small tomato)

Preheat a skillet or griddle on medium heat. Butter one slice of bread and place in pan buttered side down. Quickly place the cheese and tomato on top of the bread in the pan, spread mayonnaise or salad dressing on the other slice of bread and put it on top of the sandwich, mayonnaise side down. Butter the top of the sandwich. By the time you are done assembling and buttering the top of the sandwich, it should be toasted on the bottom and the cheese should be starting to soften. Flip the sandwich over to toast the “top” and finish melting the cheese. When both sides are toasted, remove from the pan, cut in half and serve.

And while this is slightly more work than my mother’s faux grilled cheese, it is still simple enough for those times when I am feeling decidedly lazy.