Grilled Cheese with Fig Spread and Steamed Veggies!

     Try this great recipe for dinner tonight! The idea for this grilled cheese was inspired by an autumn special at Cosi. I absolutely loved it and have been making it at home ever since!

Grilled Cheese:

2 slices onion sourdough bread
2 thick slices smoked cheddar or smoked provolone cheese
Fig spread
Spreadable butter (I use Land O Lakes butter with canola oil)

Preheat a large skillet on the stove, using low heat. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Use a knife or cheese slicer to make thick slices of the cheese. Spread fig spread on the non-buttered side of one slice of the bread. Add the cheese on top of the spread. Put the other piece of bread on top, butter side out. Brown the outside of the sandwich in the skillet over low heat. Using low heat ensures that the thickly sliced cheese melts and the outsides doesn't burn.

     Fig spread can be found in the jelly and jam section of your grocery store. If you cannot find onion sourdough bread in the bakery section of your grocery store, you can 1) make your own! 2) use another variety of sourdough or whole wheat bread. Use low fat cheese to make this recipe more heart healthy!

Steamed Vegetables:

Slice up any of the following into similar sized pieces:
broccoli
cauliflower
bell peppers
carrots
red, white, or yellow onion
parsnips
asparagus

Using a stove top or electric steamer, steam the vegetables until tender, about 10 minutes. Using less water when cooking vegetables reducing the amount of nutrients that leak out and are washed away with the water! That means more nutrients for you!

     This makes a great dinner or lunch! Yum!

For more information on Cosi, check their website: http://www.getcosi.com/. It is a great sandwich and salad restaurant and coffee shop. Very quick and fresh with lots of healthy options!

For more information on Land O Lakes butter with canola oil check out: http://www.landolakes.com/product/15127/spreadable-butter-with-canola-oil. I really like it because it is real butter, without a lot of artificial additives, and it is spreadable, unlike regular butter. I don't use spreads often so this is a good option for me, but if you use butter often and/or are concerned about your saturated fat or cholesterol intake a better option might be Smart Balance (http://www.smartbalance.com/products/buttery-spread/smart-balance-buttery-spread-original-0) which contains sterols, a plant based oil which may help lower cholesterol levels. For more information about sterols check out this article from the Cleveland Clinic: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/cholesterol/hic_plant_sterols_and_stanols.aspx.

Cheers,
Brittney