Mushrooms and Greens Grilled Cheese

Welcome Friends! As we near the end of the week, I thought it would be a perfect time for a little grilled cheese sandwich. Make that a big grilled cheese; chock full of sautéd Swiss chard and mushrooms with smoked gouda and provolone cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches are like pizza, sky is the limit when it comes to flavor combinations. Some of my favorites include both sweet and savory flavors. Today’s grilled cheese though, is all savory – it’s Mushrooms and Greens Grilled Cheese. Let’s get to the recipe!

The Prep

I like to wash the Swiss chard leaves and then cut and spin them to remove the excess water. So I started there. You can use your favorite greens for this. Dark leafy greens are the perfect contrast to the rich cheese and meaty mushrooms.

Just slice along side the rib on both sides to make two halves of the leaf. Then stack all the leaf halves and just chop them into 1 inch pieces. Easy, peasy.

I have a mix of portobello, shiitake and oyster mushrooms. Use your favorite mushrooms. I happen to really enjoy the texture and flavor variation of using a mix of mushrooms. If you only go with one type of mushrooms, portobello or crimini mushrooms are good for this recipe because they are so meaty.

Sautéing the Mushrooms and Greens

Get your pan heating over medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil and add your cut mushrooms. We want the mushrooms to release their moisture and get some some color. So adjust the heat to keep them going, but not burning. Resist stirring them at first, so they develop some nice browning. Add some Kosher salt, then stir them every several minutes. Once they all look like they have some color and aren’t releasing much liquid, it’s time to add the greens.

Reduce the heat to medium-low or low and push the mushrooms to one side of your pan. Add a drizzle of olive oil and add the cut greens to the skillet.

Once the greens begin to wilt, bring the mushrooms back in and mix the greens with the mushrooms. Let the greens wilt a bit more and then you can turn off the heat. Add a squeeze of lemon and some Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. I put a loose cover over them to keep them warm and let the greens soften further.

Time For the Grilled Cheese

In a separate skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. I am using quite a bit of oil because I essentially want to try and fry this bread. Feel free to use less oil and run at a lower temperature for less “seared” sort of toasting. Add two slices of thick-cut country style bread and reduce the heat to medium-low. We will lightly toast the inside first. Then flip the bread begin toasting the outside.

At this point, add the slices of cheese; two slices of provolone and two slices of smoked gouda per slice of bread. I alternated the varieties on each slice of bread, so both cheeses will be in each bite. Check your bread to assess its toasty-ness. You may want to turn the heat to low if it’s browning too quickly. I happen to like a little char on my fried, toasted bread, so I let mine stay on a medium-low flame.

Once the cheese begins to sweat and melt, it’s time to add the mushrooms and greens. The heat from the greens mixture will continue to melt the cheese.

Turn off the heat, and cover the open faced sandwich for about 30 seconds to one minute. Then, use a fish spatula to flip one side onto the other. Transfer the sandwich to a plate and press it to squish the filling together. Then cut the sandwich in half, and enjoy!

Mushrooms and Greens Grilled Cheese

You might feel like my bread got a little too dark for your liking, so be sure to keep an eye on your bread and adjust your heat accordingly. These little bits of char only added to the sandwich in my opinion. The exterior is fried and crispy; holding up perfectly to the cheesy, mushroomy leafy greens. Much like the Super Special Grilled Cheese in my Turkey Sandwich Trio post, these will make another lunchtime appearance for us!

I hope you try my Mushrooms and Greens Grilled Cheese; it’s a great vegetarian recipe and a great way to eat your greens! Give me a follow of Instagram and Pinterest and share this recipe with your family and friends. Take care and be well, everyone. xo Kelly

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Mushrooms and Greens Grilled Cheese

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Lunch, Dinner – American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 1-2

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 7 minutes – Total Time: ~20 Mintues

Meaty mushrooms and dark leafy greens are sautéd and seasoned, piled high on slices of fried sourdough bread with ooey gooey provolone and smoked gouda cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Swiss Chard (or other dark leafy greens), ribs and stems removed, leaves cut into 1" pieces
• 4 or 6-oz. Portobello Mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tbsp. Olive Oil, plus more if needed (divided)
• Squeeze of Lemon
• Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper, to taste
• 2 slices Thick-Cut Sourdough Bread (or other crusty rustic loaf)
• 4 slices Smoked Gouda, thinly sliced
• 4 slices Provolone, thinly sliced

Instructions

1

Sauté the mushrooms in one tablespoon of the the olive oil over medium heat until they release their moisture and take on color.

2

Push the mushrooms to one side of the skillet and add the cut greens. Add more olive oil if needed.

3

Stir the greens until slightly wilted and then mix the mushrooms into the wilted greens. Let the greens and mushrooms cook for another minute and remove from heat. Stir in a squeeze of lemon, add Kosher Salt and pepper, then loosely cover.

4

In a separate skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is shimmery, lay the two slices of bread in the skillet and reduce the temperature to medium-low.

5

Slightly toast the two bread slices and then flip them over.

6

Lay the cheese in alternating slices on the bread. Reduce temperature to low. Periodically tilt the pan to keep the bread slices in the olive oil.

7

Once the cheese begins to melt and sweat, add two heaping spoon fulls of the mushrooms and greens mixture on each slice of bread and cheese.

8

Check the toasty-ness of the underside of the bread, if it's getting dark turn off the heat. Then, loosely cover the pan for 30 seconds to one minute.

9

Turn off the heat and flip one side of the sandwich on top of the other and transfer to a plate.

10

Press down on the sandwich to squish the filling together, then slice in half.

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