Gouda and Asian Pear Grilled Cheese with Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad

This post is probably more for show than for content. Anyone knows how to make a decent grilled cheese - unless you burn it or under-grill it - if you throw something tasty in between two slices of buttered bread and grill it on both sides to produce melty, oozey cheese - it's probably going to be adequately satisfying.

That being said, this was not the best grilled cheese that I have had in my life. My recent constant craving for crisp and juicy asian pear led me to this sandwich concept. I thought the crunch pear would pair wonderfully with a heavier, warm melted cheese. And gouda, in my opinion, is a pretty good cheese (though I still am partial to smoked gouda,I know, not the most sophisticated of cheese varieties).

The simple construction of the sandwich was as follows:

4 slices of fresh sourdough bread
butter
sliced gouda cheese
1 small asian pear, peeled and sliced

Butter the outside of each slice of bread.
Top unbuttered layer with cheese and pear.
Top with other slice of bread - butter facing out.
Grill on a panini press or weighted skillet (see our version below) until each side is browned and cheese is melted (flip halfway through if using a skillet)

Note: our ghetto "panini press"

Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Panini Press

The concept of the sandwich was on-point, in my opinion. I think were we went slightly wrong was in the thickness of the asian pear slices (which I cannot take credit for...I would have sliced them much thicker). They were sliced far too thin and really got lost when mixed with the cheese. Even though the slices were layered, the fact that they were thin meant that we lost the definitive crispness that distinguishes the asian pear and would have been an asset in the recipe.

To accompany the grilled cheese we made a simple roasted beet salad with spinach, roasted beets, and the fresh cow's milk farmer's market cheese. Top with some salt and pepper and dress with an apple cider vinaigrette.

Undressed:

Dressed:

The salad, obviously, was tasty - you can't go wrong with beets, spinach and a good crumbly cheese. I also topped mine with some dried cranberries to add some additional sweetness.