Veggie-Packed Kimchi Grilled Cheese Sandwich

A childhood friend of mine passed away last week. She was the eldest daughter of two families that lived next door to me. I am saddened by this and have been thinking a lot about them and that time period in my life. I think about the other people I grew up with on that block as well. The other family that lived next door to me happened to be one my mom's best friends. I too was and still am close to her, as she was the one to notify me of the unfortunate news. 

The first time I ever tried a grilled cheese sandwich of any kind came from her, my mom's best friend. It wasn't anything special. Just an open faced grilled cheese with a slice of tomato and green pepper on it. I was playing in their backyard with the kids and she brought it out for lunch. I loved it so much and even to this day, it's one of my favorite ways to eat a grilled cheese sandwich. So I put my own twist on a Korean fusion-inspired one. Because one, I've been missing creating food content and two, it's been more than THREE months since I've last done one!  

Veggie-Packed Kimchi Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 slices whole wheat bread 3 Tbsp butter 4 slices Colby Jack cheese 1/2 cup kimchi Few slices green, red & yellow pepper 5-6 cherry tomatoes

Directions:

1. Melt one third of butter in a large non-stick skillet (or grill pan in my case) over medium heat until foaming subsides. Add 2 slices of bread, then 2 slices of cheese on top, press firmly into pan and cook until golden brown on bottom side (approx 2 min.)
2. Char kimchi, peppers & cherry tomatoes while the bread is grilling for approx. 4-5minutes.
3. Chop up kimchi and veggies, then add on top of cheese. Remove sandwich using a flexible metal spatula. Add the remaining butter. Repeat steps 1-3 with second sandwich. Serve & enjoy immediately. :)

Twists include using a cast iron grill pan to give a nicer design on the bread. I always use whole wheat bread unless it's homemade stuffing. That's the only time I'll make an exception for white bread. I charred all the veggies while grilling the cheese and in the same skillet. It gave the cherry tomatoes and peppers a nice tiny roast, which in turn brought more flavor in my opinion. I also grilled the kimchi in the pan for a few minutes to soften the cabbage. And whenever I am making a grilled cheese sandwich I always, nine out of ten times, use Colby Jack cheese. It's a favorite aside from Havarti and Emmental. What's your favorite cheese to grill? 

I have some really exciting content coming to the blog soon! This week I'll be shooting more fashion + style content. I'll be heading down to the Financial District on Tuesday for one of them so stay tuned on my Insta Stories for some BTS! There will also be a brand new cocktail recipe posted more toward the end of the week. And lastly, I'll be attending NYFW again in the next couple of weeks but this time I'll be getting to go backstage to some pretty cool designers... I can't wait to share! Did I mention travel content is also coming to MaQ + Suz in the next few months? Clue? It's international... Looks like 2017 is off to a great start! ;) 

LOVE & XX'S,

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Chilled Avocado Salad

Long holiday weekends call for easy-does-it recipes. And poolside! I'm sharing one of my oldest recipes: a chilled avocado salad. It is simple, fresh and healthy. Delicious. And the best part? AVOCADO. There's really nothing to it. Let me show you how you can make your own!

Start by whisking olive oil, rice wine vinegar, salt, oregano and cumin together in a large bowl. Add chopped avocado, then toss gently to coat. I always use a silicone spatula to prevent mushing the avocado. You don't want it to look all squished together, as it looks messy. Not as appealing to eat, let alone serve.  

Chilled Avocado Salad

recipe + photos by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1/4 c. olive oil
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into bite-size pieces
1 c. cooked brown or white rice
1/2 c. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large Roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 green onion, sliced

Directions:

1. Whisk oil, vinegar, salt, oregano, and cumin in large bowl. Add avocado; toss gently to coat.
2. Add rice, black beans, tomato and green onion; toss gently to mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Enjoy with tortilla chips. :)

Add in cooked rice, brown or white, but in this recipe I used white (non-sticky), canned black beans, tomato and green onion. Toss again to mix, season with s & p, then refrigerate for an hour before serving. I normally serve it with yellow corn chips, but any kind of tortilla chips will do just fine. 

Optionally you can also add in a little tabasco sauce for added spiciness. But sometimes it's nice to keep a dish fresh and true to its recipe. Every time I serve this at a dinner party, it's gone lickety-split. People love this appetizer, and rightfully so! What's not to enjoy?! ;)

Check out the step-by-step YouTube video down below! And be sure to subscribe to our channel for weekly videos on style, food & cooking, beauty tutorials and more! I've been passionate in my adventures in videography and love sharing not just my experiences, but the learning curve that has come with it. What's been your latest passion? Or what have you learned recently that's taken you on a new journey?  

Thanks for stopping by! We love reading your comments, questions & feedback! Be sure to comment down below and to share! We hope you enjoy the long holiday weekend! We'll be traveling for the next few days and can't wait to show you where! It's another place I've never been AND I'll also be experiencing something I've never done before either! It's going to be amazing!!! So excited! Stay tuned...

---

videography + photography, styling + editing

by: Suzanne Spiegoski 

Happy Labor Day Weekend! I whipped up a chilled avocado salad to enjoy during the long holiday weekend! Subscribe for new videos every week http://bit.ly/21XFK0K 

Cheers! xo.

LOVE & XX'S,

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Kimchi Gazpacho

The long weekend is almost here! Hallelujah! What are your plans for Memorial Day? Going out of town? Vacay trip? Staycation? With the weather now warming up, especially here in New York, where the past couple of days have risen up to the near 90's, I created a new recipe suited for the start to summer! Now that it's getting hotter and the fact that I love soup, I did my own twist on one of my favorite summer soups, gazpacho.

One of my favorite strolls through the city is at the Union Square Green Market. They have everything from jams & honey to fresh farmer's fruit & vegetables, to even flowers, cheese, bread and wine. The works! I love going with the boys for a little quality time along with getting the best produce to cook with! And what's more awesome? They always got new herbs and veggies to work with, such as chive blossoms and red scallions, both of which I have yet to experiment with! I even saw fiddleheads!

Kimchi Gazpacho

Serves 2-3

recipe + photos by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Ingredients:
3 c chopped tomatoes (peeled and seeded)
1/2 c kimchi with juice (chopped)
1/2 c Kirby cucumber (peeled and chopped)
1 large garlic clove, chopped
3 tbs rice wine
salt & pepper to taste
Chive blossoms & red scallions, for garnish, optional

Directions:

In a blender, puree tomatoes, kimchi, cucumber, and garlic. Add rice wine, salt, and pepper. Taste for accurate seasonings. Chill. Pour into bowl(s), garnish, and serve immediately.

Using staple ingredients within a gazpacho such as tomatoes, Kirby cucumbers, onion, and garlic, I incorporated some Napa cabbage kimchi to give this chilled soup a bit of heat. Gazpacho is simple to make. Takes less than twenty minutes to prep and complete. Waiting for the soup to chill is the hardest part! I hate waiting to eat! Ha ha!

I've been wanting to elevate my dishes to another level and have been working on better garnishing my plates. To me, garnishes are vital when completing the look of a meal. In this case, gazpacho would look pretty bland without any decorative gems on top! So instead of using chives or green onion, I went for something completely different and totally out of my normal 'comfort' cooking zone. Never have I tried chive flowers, but now I've got a feeling I'll be sprinkling these onto everything!

LOVE & XX'S

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

Fried Green Tomatoes

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm so delighted to finally share a recipe it took nearly 20 years in the making! Ever since I was a little girl and saw, 'Fried Green Tomatoes', the movie (the book is entirely something else!), I've been obsessed with the idea of trying to make them. I've tried several variations of this Southern comfort food dish, but never in a Korean-fusion way! So, of course, I had to create my own version!

The first secret to the perfect fried green tomato? Bacon drippings. You know all the grease you get after cooking bacon in the pan/oven? Save that for this recipe! I'm serious! You can even freeze it in the freezer should you want to use it in the distant future. I put mine in a Mason jar and it's seriously what gives the tomatoes it's ultimate flavor. Second? Cornmeal. And yellow. It gives a better color than white cornmeal, in my opinion.

Photos + recipe by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Fried Green Tomatoes

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 medium green tomatoes (per person)

Batter:
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c yellow cornmeal
3/4 c buttermilk
salt & pepper
enough bacon drippings to fill 2" deep in a skillet /pan

Sauce:
2 TB coconut oil
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c buttermilk
1 TB ranch dressing
salt & pepper

Directions:
Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Combine batter then coat tomatoes on both sides. In a large skillet, heat enough bacon drippings to coat the bottom of the pan and fry tomatoes until lightly browned on both sides. (2-3 min per side) If oil sizzles or pops before you put the tomatoes in, it's too hot! Transfer to a colander or wire cooling rack to drain. To keep the tomatoes from getting soggy before they're served, the best way is to stand them up like wheels in a serving dish instead of stacking them. To make the sauce, add coconut oil in a saucepan until melted over medium heat. Whisk in flour, then milk & buttermilk until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Garnish with fresh dill, cucumber carrot kimchi & red pepper flakes. Serve immediately and enjoy! (You'll think you died and gone to heaven!)

They came out crisp and golden, a wonderful juxtaposition to the tart and juicy tomato. Added components to the dish were fresh dill, cucumber carrot kimchi, and red pepper flakes. I chose these ingredients because I felt it overall completed the entire dish. The combination of flavors was explosive to my palette! You got the acidity from the tomato (By the way, do you consider it to be a vegetable or a fruit?), the slight smoky bacon flavor, the refreshing balance from the dill, and the spiciness from the kimchi and flakes.

Lastly, the buttermilk sauce is creamy and tangy. The final finishing touch. I've been working on my style and plating, what do y'all think? How do you make fried green tomatoes? Perhaps next time, you'll give this recipe a try? It's great as an appetizer or for lunch. Or if you're just very, very, hungry. 😉 Until next time, feel free to comment down below and subscribe (to the right, in the side bar). Have a nice weekend!

LOVE & XX'S,

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ