Salted Caramel Apple Grilled Cheese

These days my taste for sugary sweets has waned. Between health scares, dentist bills and a gradually expanding waistline, it’s no wonder. A little teaspoon here and there of sea salt caramel syrup  gives just enough of a toffee hint to take me back to sweet, innocent, worry-free days.

Salted Caramel Apple Grilled Cheese

• 2 slices healthy bread – Ezekiel sprouted grain flax bread used here
• 2 T ricotta
• 1 Honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced
• 1/8 t cinnamon
• 1/2 c baby greens – baby chard, kale and spinach
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 oz crumbled aged cheddar
• 2 t sea salt caramel syrup
• 1 t butter – optional

Spread ricotta on one slice of bread. Add a layer of sliced apple. Sprinkle on cinnamon. Add greens. Sprinkle on sea salt and cheddar. Drizzle on a teaspoon of caramel syrup, then cover with a slice of bread.

Heat the sandwich in a grill press. Or use a regular pan, and start by heating butter on medium. Add sandwich to pan and cover with a small plate and a heavy can, pressing down slightly. After 1-2 minutes, flip sandwich and cook 1-2 minutes until browned on both sides. Serve garnished with apple slices, drizzled with a teaspoon of caramel syrup. Serves 1, but it’s ok to share if you’re on your way to yoga class.

Salted Caramel Apple Grilled Cheese Print Ready Recipe

Final notes:

• I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with my own dessert mashu-up recipe so that I could introduce you to this book by Crazy for Crust blogger Dorothy. This Salted Caramel Apple Grilled Cheese is the closest I could come given my predilection for sugar-almost-free, low-fat cooking. What is a dessert mash-up you ask? Google turned up these resourceful examples. Martha Stewart jumped on the bandwagon with these 16 Frankenpastries. There are mash-ups popping up here, there and everywhere. If you are a dessert junkie, then Dessert Mash-Ups may be just what you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.
• Thank you to all my buddies at the Richardson Hospital Center who gathered a basketful of gourmet goodies to inspire JC recipes. The sea salt caramel syrup is a winner!
• Happy birthday wishes to my very wise and wonderful son! T-w-e-n-t-y F-i-v-e T-0-d-a-y!
• What is it about singing that makes us crazy emotional? Check out this kid Shaheen Jafargholi.