Brie and Strawberry Grilled Cheese

Grilled cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods, and I love trying new variations of it. We actually have a restaurant right around the corner from my apartment that specializes in grilled cheese, but they don't have much in the way of sweet and cheesy combinations. The classic grilled cheese with the American cheese is obviously great, and a variation with mozzarrella and pesto and tomato is also a good go-to, but when I saw this come up in my Blue Apron rotation, I had to try it.

It was so worth it.

Brie and Strawberry Grilled Cheese
Originally found at Blue Apron

4 slices bread
4 ounces brie cheese, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter
6 ounces strawberries, medium chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 Tbsp light brown sugar

In a small pot, combine strawberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Heat until boiling, then reduce and allow to simmer 10-12 minutes, until thickened and strawberries have softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool 2 minutes.

Butter one side of each slice of bread. On the non-buttered side of two slices, lay sliced brie. Top with cooled jam, followed by slice of bread with the buttered side up. In a pan over medium-high heat, cook one side of the grilled cheese until light brown and crispy. Flip and cook until other side is light brown and crispy and cheese has melted well.

My Notes:
I left the rind on my brie. You can take it off if you desire, it just gets harder to get the cheese out. This was a nice mix of salty and sweet, and the bread I used was nice and thick and chewy. I imagine this would be good with store-bought preserves as well, and I've definitely seen variations with pears instead of strawberries, but strawberries are in season right now.

General Tso's Chicken

Chinese food is one of my go-tos. Along with Mexican. I know it's bastardized by American culture, but it's just such a comfort food for me. I enjoy trying out new dishes at home, and saw this one in my rotation and was intrigued. Ketchup in a Chinese dish? Clearly, not very authentic, but it somehow works. And this is such a simple dish to throw together that it's definitely worth trying again.

General Tso's Chicken
Originally found at Blue Apron

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup cornstarch
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp soy glaze*
1 Tbsp Sambal Oelek, to taste
1 Tbsp Sesame oil
1/4 cup ketchup
2 scallions, chopped with green and white ends separated
Oil

Toss the chicken in cornstarch, shaking off excess. In a frying pan or wok, heat 2 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken to the pan and cook until golden brown. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.

Heats sesame oil over medium high heat in same pan. Add garlic and white bottoms of scallions and cook until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. Add soy glaze, sambal oelek, and ketchup. Stir to combine. Add chicken back to the pan and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice and garnish with green tops of scallions.


My Notes:
*Soy glaze is a thicker, sweeter version of soy sauce. You can buy it directly, or make your own.

The original Blue Apron meal came with snow peas, which were much better than I expected them to be. Nice and crisp, and fresh tasting. Simple to make, simply cut off the ends, remove the fibrous strand that runs along the length of the pod, then cook in a small amount of oil until bright green.

See, I'm being good and adding veggies to my diet :)