Avocado and Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I thought I heard someone singing just outside my back door while I was making these sandwiches for lunch.

She wasn’t the best singer in the world, but ya got to hand it to her, she was brave. I’m sure if I had the nerve to sing outside in public, I’d be less than average, too. But a lot of times it’s more about guts than anything else when it comes to singing. You just have to step out there and mean it. That’s what it takes. ( Not that I would really know, but that’s what I’ve heard, anyway.)

I felt that way when I stepped into the kitchen around noon on a Saturday, and started pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator for lunch. It takes guts to make something you’ve never made before, but I’ve had every intention of making these sandwiches for a long time now. I think that’s called procrastination, or making excuses like I’m missing one of the necessary ingredients. Sometimes the best plans take time to activate. Yep, that’s what it takes; intention, plans, and guts. I’m telling you, it’s real.

The idea that was floating around in my head was to put avocado into a grilled cheese sandwich. I was imagining an irresistible gooeyness, but realized that it needed something else to contrast with all that richness, so I included firm, ripe tomato slices. Tomatoes that are not overly ripe work best, so they don’t give off too much juice as they grill. A leap of faith is what it was, but one that turned out to be right on the money. Whoo-Hoo!

This is a sandwich to make when you want to impress someone with your culinary skills!

AVOCADO AND TOMATO GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES

Yield: Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

3 ounces white cheddar cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup) or any other cheese of choice
8 slices seedless rye bread
8 tomato slices
1 ripe peeled avocado, cut into thin slices
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp, black pepper
cooking spray

Directions:

1. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cheese over each of 4 bread slices. If using sliced cheese, use 2 slices. Top each with 2 tomato slices. Arrange avocado slices evenly over tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (In place of salt and pepper, I often use Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle for an added flavor boost.)

2. Top with remaining 4 bread slices. Lightly coat outsides of sandwiches with cooking spray.

3. Heat a grill pan (or panini pan) over medium heat. Place sandwiches in pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted and well marked and cheese melts. Cut each sandwich in half and serve immediately.