Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Pizza Style

I just got back from girls camp where we had a gourmet chef preparing the food. Chef Doughty is the bomb, and is really inventive. She really wanted all the (picky) girls to like the food, so the meals we ate were often a twist on a classic favorite. Freakin' GOOD STUFF. For lunch one day, we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Boring? No. The soup was a thick, hearty, homemade tomato basil wonder, and the pizza style sandwich was simple but so good! I figured that I at least had the skills to make the sandwich, so guess what my family ate the day after I got home? Uh huh, and guess what else? They loved it! So here it is for you. Sorry no pictures.

Pizza Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Bread of your choice
mayonnaise
Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni

On one slice of bread, spread mayo and sprinkle on Italian seasoning. On the other slice, be generous with the cheese and pepperoni. Bring the two halves together, and butter up the outsides (or spray your griddle with oil), and grill up your sandwich. Use the back of your turner to press it like a panini while it cooks. Serve with your favorite tomato soup.

Sound easy? It is. Sound good? IT IS.

Hope you enjoy it!

PS: Chef Doughty has a radio show in addition to her blog. In fact, she had the show long before the blog. She is a really good teacher, and really seems to love passing on her knowledge to help others find their Chef Within. I was so impressed with how she interacted with the young women of our stake. She didn't just give them jobs, she taught them skills. It was awesome. I wish I could have spent more time in the kitchen. Here's the link to her show's homepage: Food for Thought. There are a ton of recipes there.

PSS: At camp we also had these amazing french toast variations one morning using french bread topped with coconut, classic cinnamon, chopped pecans, and more topped with homemade cinnamon ginger maple syrup. I just noticed that she had the recipes on her sites. Oh man...sooooo good!

Black Eyed Salsa

I made this for a church function last night. It turned out so good. Good enough to eat like a salad, but excellent with chips. Tostitos Hint of Lime chips are the bomb with it.

Black Eyed Salsa

3 cans Black Eyed Peas, rinsed and drained
1 can shoepeg corn, drained (white sweet corn)
tomato, chopped (2 or 3)
green onions, chopped (like 3)
avocado (I used two huge ones)
fresh garlic, peeled and sliced
lime
kosher salt

Firmly rub the sliced side of your fresh garlic on the sides of a large mixing bowl, coating it with garlicy goodness. In same bowl, combine black eyed peas, shoepeg corn, tomato, green onions, and *avocado chunks. Season with fresh squeezed lime juice and kosher salt.

* This makes a ton, so I split the batch, and added the avocado, lime and salt to the half we used that night. I reserved the rest in the fridge, and added those three ingredients when we were ready to eat it. Next time I think I'll add some cilantro. YUM.