"Guest Post - Ashley from Bright Roots Kitchen"
This Curried Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich recipe is a guest blog post by Ashley from Bright Roots Kitchen. We created cultural fusion recipes for each other's blogs. To find the recipe for my Austrian Apricot Dumplings with African Yams (pictured above) visit the Bright Roots Kitchen blog. To enjoy the Curried Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches read on below.
These Curried Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are a Caribbean twist on an American classic! They’re the perfect lunch, dinner or snack that transport you to your childhood.
As a first generation American in my Jamaican immigrant family, I think I’m required to love 2 staple foods from both cultures: CURRY and GRILLED CHEESE SAMMIES. So it only seemed fitting to make a multi-cultural mashup of the two. These Curried Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are truly a happy marriage of these staples.
If you could put pure nostalgia in a sandwich, this would be it! They’ve got a spicy kick from the curry, creaminess from the coconut milk and of course an ooey gooey melt from the cheddar cheese. It definitely feels decadent, but as with all my recipes, this one has a couple of healthy swaps (we’re not kids anymore after all!).
Healthy swaps for this recipe:
Multigrain Bread: Instead of traditional white bread, multigrain bread lessens the calories and adds a nice texture from the whole grains
Cheddar Cheese: If you struggle with dairy like I do, I recommend using cheddar because most cheddar is naturally lactose free. So don’t fret if you have cut lactose, you can still enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich!
Apples: Usually Jamaican curry dishes are made with meat or seafood, but the apples are a fresh, vegetarian swap with less fat and calories
Cultural Fun Fact: “Curry-ing” or “Curried” in Jamaican food is the process of infusing the flavor of curry into a dish. Most other countries with curry dishes describe it as chicken curry or shrimp curry for example because curry in those instances describes the sauce rather than cooking process itself.
Guest Post - Ashley from A Bright Roots Kitchen
Author:
A Sweet Point of View
Cook time:
20 mins
Total time:
20 mins
Serves:
4
Ingredients
Ingredients:
4 slices multigrain bread
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tbs olive oil
1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
1 tbs curry powder (Jamaican curry recommended)
1 tbs sunflower oil or another light oil
4 tbs coconut milk
¼ tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Instructions:
Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add sunflower oil, apples and curry powder to the skillet. Gently stir until apples are coated in curry. Cook apples, occasionally stirring for 3-5 minutes until apples are tender with a slight crunch.
Add coconut milk, dried thyme, salt and pepper to the apples. Stir and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Brush each slice of bread with olive oil on one side. Place ¼ of the shredded cheese on the opposite side of each slice. Scoop 2-3 large spoonfuls of the apple mixture on top of the cheese on one slice. Top the sandwich with the other cheese coated slice to form 2 sandwiches.
Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Place sandwich in the pan. Cook each sandwich 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown and cheese starts melting. Enjoy!
3.5.3251
If you’re looking to try a twist on classic, check out the recipe below. If you have questions or a looking for similar recipes head over to the Bright Roots Kitchen blog.