Meals for One – Apple Cinnamon Grilled Cheese

The most exciting news of the week: I managed to cook a sandwich without burning anything! Meals for One returns with an update of a classic: a grilled cheese sandwich with the addition of apples and cinnamon to give it a new taste and keep you feeling full and satisfied for longer.

This recipe is not the easiest to make, mostly because it calls for peeling, coring, and slicing an apple. The only truly challenging aspect of this, in my experience, was coring the apple, but learning on the spot how to peel and slice it was not an ideal situation by any stretch. Of course, being a grilled cheese, the recipe also calls for cooking the sandwich in a skillet. However, this proved to be simple, and the sandwich was wonderfully resilient: on more than one occasion I wandered off to do something else, leaving the stove disgracefully unattended, and I still managed to achieve nearly perfectly cooked bread.

The taste test offered mixed results, with my assistant wholeheartedly approving of the meal, disagreeing with my personal opinion that parts of the sandwich were delicious, but other bites quite bland. Add in that I don't particularly like grilled cheese and I was generally less than truly satisfied. Don't be thrown off by the odd combination of ingredients, though- they do blend quite nicely.

Overall, this recipe is far from my favorite, and I may think twice before making it for myself (or may just take out the cheese if I do so) but I would gladly pass on the recipe to a friend looking to try something new.

Apple Cinnamon Grilled Cheese

Prep time: ≈10 minutes

Cook time: ≈5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon softened butter

2 slices white bread

1 small apple - peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 slice American cheese

DIRECTIONS

Place a skillet over medium heat. Spread butter evenly and completely over one side of each bread slice. Arrange the apple slices on the unbuttered side of one of the bread slices. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the apples. Place the cheese slice atop the apples. Top with the remaining bread slice with the buttered side facing outward. Lie gently into the skillet. Cook sandwich on both sides until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

EVALUATION

Taste: 3.5- It wasn't bad, but I think there could have been more flavor to it. Consideration was taken for my general dislike of grilled cheese.

Ease of Preparation (5=easy, 1=difficult): 3.5- Preparing the apple took a long time and was not the easiest of tasks.

Practicality: 4.5- None of the ingredients are odd to have around the house or difficult to acquire, and everyone knows how to make grilled cheese.

Overall score: 3.7- Not a bad recipe, but would be better if it required a little less effort or tasted a little better.