Meatless Monday: Avocado and alfalfa sprouts grilled cheese

April is Grilled Cheese Month. Liven up an ordinary grilled cheese with spicy sprouts and a creamy avocado spread.

By Shane Kearns,?Grilled Shane / April 14, 2013

Havarti cheese melted on multigrain bread with an avocado spread and alfalfa sprouts is as close to a perfect grilled cheese sandwich as you are going to get.

Grilled Shane

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Inspiration for my grilled cheese creations can come from the strangest places. This sandwich is no exception. At Jimmy John?s, a sub place I am known to frequent, they have a?vegetarian?sub that I love. (#6 for those that have been to Jimmy John?s. I order it on multigrain.) As their menu reads:

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Grilled Shane

When Shane watched his mom create grilled cheese, he knew then that these sandwiches would soon become a major focus of his life. Thus evolved his life?s passion: grilledshane.com, devoted to all things grilled cheese: homemade recipes, news, and enjoyable stories. After reading grilledshane.com, you will come to realize that grilled cheese sandwiches can be much more than two pieces of bread and a slice of cheese.

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"Layers of provolone cheese separated by real avocado spread, alfalfa sprouts, sliced cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. (Truly a gourmet sub not for vegetarians only???.peace dude!)"

To me, a vegetarian sandwich can be boring and lacking. However, I consider this particular sandwich to be unique in a world of bland and repetitive vegetarian sandwiches. The avocado spread, in my opinion, is fantastic. Plus, the alfalfa sprouts are a nice touch. I had this sandwich recently, leading me to think of ways to turn this cold sandwich into a hot grilled cheese sandwich.

As the menu states, Jimmy John?s uses provolone cheese on their vegetarian sandwich. I wanted to put my own spin on the sandwich, so although I stuck with a white cheese, I went with creamy Havarti, a mild, buttery cheese:

"Havarti was first developed by a 19th century Danish dairy pioneer named Hanne Nielsen. The cheese was named after Hanne Nielsen?s dairy farm: Havarti. Today it is one of the most popular cheeses for snacking and entertaining. Danish Havarti has been popular in the USA for many years. Denmarks Finest? is the original, imported Danish Havarti. It is your guarantee of exceptional quality, consistency and authencicity." (Arla.com)

While creating this particular grilled cheese, I wanted to pay homage to Jimmy John?s sandwich, but at the same time, I wanted to add my own touch. The most evident place to do so was with the avocado spread.

One day I found a cippolini onion in the grocery store, bought it and used it in my cooking. I never really knew much about it, but I knew that I seemed to enjoy it. Therefore, when I was trying to think of ingredients to add to my avocado spread, I once again stumbled on the?cippolini onion:

"Cippolini onion has various uses in many recipes and it is eaten fresh, fried, steamed, baked or boiled, for numerous salads, toppings, sauces and dips. Due to its Italian origin, the cippolini onion is used for the Italian specialties, such as pizzas, spaghettis and various pastas with meat and greens. Cippolinis are small bittersweet bulbs that come from the grape hyacinth that look and taste like small, white onions. Fresh cippolinis are difficult to find in the U.S. They are available preserved in jars and are also known as wild onions." (Recipes.Wikia.com)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/z5vLx6fWWsc/Meatless-Monday-Avocado-and-alfalfa-sprouts-grilled-cheese

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