Happy belated Valentine’s Day to everyone out there. I hope everyone had a great day and a great weekend. In honor of the holiday, I went with strawberries as one of my main ingredients for this week’s grilled cheese. Seriously, how could I not? Since I was going the fruit route, I took it a step further and added mango in the mix, which was definitely a great addition. Overall, I would say that this sandwich turned out a lot better than I expected.

ingredients:

GRILLED
• Sliced Strawberries
• Sliced Mangoes
• Strawberry/Mango Salsa
• Spinach
• Gouda
• Pumpernickel

I was originally going to make a strawberry/mango aioli, but ended up simply making a salsa. The only ingredients that I added were a small amount of olive oil and salt. I mixed it up into a fine salsa (not chunky) and then spread it on the sandwich, both on the top and bottom. I was going to leave it at that, but then decided, with some assistance, to include actual slices of the mango and strawberries within the sandwich. I believe that the slices are truly what made the sandwich as great as it was.

I have not had strawberries in awhile so having them tonight was a great treat. However, the true treat was the mango. I could probably count on one hand how many times I have had mango in my whole life. The one I bought today was extremely sweet and extremely delicious. I said last week that I need to use alfalfa sprouts much more in my cooking. Well, that is the case, but much more true for mangoes.

The only issue that I had was with the spinach. We did not need it. I am not sure if it was because we chopped it up or if the mangoes/strawberries were so sweet, but I did not taste them at all.

Finally, the Gouda was a great cheese to use for tonight’s sandwich. It sat in the background, allowing the fruit to be the star. I would definitely use the Gouda for a future sandwich, where it could possibly be the standout ingredient.

grade: A-/B+

I believe that this was my most original recipe, only taking cues from my mind. The other sandwiches I made had pieces and ingredients from other sources (sous chef/mom, internet, etc.). Therefore, while cooking this sandwich, I was very nervous that it would not live up to the idea I had in my head.

It did. Very much so.

I am not sure that I have had a “fruity sandwich” before, but I definitely would try more in the future. This was a great sandwich and one that both my father and I enjoyed. That does not happen very often. Well done for sure.

ingredients were purchased at…

• Miles Farmer’s Market (Strawberries, Mangoes, Spinach, Gouda, Pumpernickel)