Innovative sandwiches: Grilled cheese and pesto

It’s Saturday night and you’ve decided you want to stay in. Finally a night to catch up on the mounds of homework you have for the week, or the job applications that you promised yourself you were going to submit today. Or maybe even stay in bed and binge watch on Netflix. Either way, you’re not spending 40 bucks on going out to eat in Downtown L.A. and that makes you happy.

But you don’t want to cook. We’re not even halfway through the semester yet and you’ve already given up on the fancy healthy stuff you were making that first week in January. You’ve traded the honey-ginger grilled salmon and steak dinners for microwavable mac and cheese and wraps to go from the closest Fresh and Easy. Plus, all those plates piled up on the sink? Yeah, those aren’t going to clean themselves…

Thankfully, this grilled cheese with spicy havarti is here to save your Saturday night. Here’s a simple, 15-miunte college-proof recipe that will not make a mess in your kitchen and will pretty much change the way you perceive grilled cheese.

You will need:

• 2 slices of sourdough bread
• Jalapeño Havarti cheese (to taste)
• ¼ cup of roasted tomatoes chopped
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1-2 tablespoons of cilantro pesto (recipe included).

Start by making the pesto sauce. You will need:

• ¼ of Raw Almonds
• 1 large bunch of cilantro (trimmed)
• ½ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon juiced

All you need to do now is put the almonds, cilantro and lemon in a fruit processor and pulse them. As you do this, add the olive oil until the pesto feels smooth.

Now use a sauté pan to heat up your bread slices. Butter one side of the slices of bread and put them into the sauté pan. Divide the slices of cheese evenly among your bread. Give it a couple of minutes until you see that the bread is browner and the cheese melted.

When it’s done, place the slices of bread on a cutting board and add the pesto sauce on one slice of bread. Place the roasted tomatoes on the other slice, put the sandwich together and enjoy!

Also feeling like taking a drink? Try adding raspberries and mint leaves to your wine tonight to give it a stronger taste.