Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Roasted Broccoli

Well, I posted the tomatillo salsa recipe that day after Cinco de Mayo, and I'm posting a grilled cheese recipe after National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month (April) is over. This, my friends, is one of the reasons I'm not a professional food blogger. However, I maintain that fancy pants grilled cheese sandwiches are good at any time of the year.

What you'll find below is not exactly a recipe. Rather, it's a list of ingredients and some directions on a good method. But when I made this sandwich (twice!) I didn't measure a thing. If you have leftover roasted broccoli, use it as a side dish for another meal--it's great on its own! The original recipe called for onion and red bell pepper to be roasted with the broccoli, and that sounds good, but the sandwiches didn't taste at all like they were missing anything by not having roasted onion and pepper.

Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Roasted Broccoli
Adapted from Cookie and Kate
Yield: 1 serving 

Ingredients
Fresh broccoli florets
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 slices sourdough bread
Dijon mustard
1-3 kinds of cheese, shredded (I used cheddar, gouda, and parmesan)

Directions
Preheat oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut broccoli florets into small bite-sized pieces; toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss again. Spread broccoli out on the baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until broccoli is darkened and roasty.

Get two slices of sourdough bread, and stack them like a sandwich. Spray/brush olive oil on the outsides of the bread sandwich. Then place the slices of bread oil-side-down. Spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on one slice of bread. Grate one or two kinds of cheese, and sprinkle evenly on both slices of bread. I did cheddar on one slice and gouda on the other.

Heat a skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Using a spatula, carefully transfer each slice of bread into the skillet. Cover and cook on medium-low until cheese is melted. Check the bottoms of the bread; if they're not yet toasted, raise heat to medium and continue cooking (uncovered) until bread is toasted. Remove both slices of bread to a cutting board.

Layer some broccoli on top of one of the sandwich halves. Be generous with the broccoli. If desired, sprinkle a little more cheese in with the broccoli to help it stick together. I used parmesan. Place the other sandwich half on top and smoosh it slightly. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the sandwich in half. Transfer to a plate to serve.