Southern Style Pimento Cheese

Southern Pimento Cheese

Actually I suppose all pimento cheese is Southern.  Here's a simple recipe of pimento cheese that is good for serving on crackers, topping a homemade pizza,  or for making a grilled pimento cheese sandwich.  I'm going to a "livermush party"  next week, and I'll take some pimento cheese that will be good to add to a livermush sandwich.

Here's the recipe for Southern Pimento Cheese:

Southern Pimento Cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup Duke’s mayonnaise

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)

1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimento, drained or 4 ounces grilled sweet pepper

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayo, cayenne pepper, and pimento in the large bowl of a mixer.  Beat at medium speed with paddle until thoroughly combined.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

 

Use a good extra sharp Cheddar.

Duke's mayo is a must for this.

I used half of this jar of grilled peppers.

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl of mixer until blended.

Ready to enjoy.

If you've only tried the commercial pimento cheese, I suggest making your own.  It's less expensive and it is ever so much better. 

A St. Patrick's Day Sandwich

A "green" sandwich for St. Patrick's Day.

I know it's not quite St. Patrick's Day, but I've been baking "green" desserts with a St. Patrick's Day theme and for supper I decided to make a "green" sandwich for Dan and me. 

I spread pesto on each side of the bread, followed by slices of yogurt cheese. 

Spread pesto on each slice of bread.

Add yogurt cheese to each slice of bread.

I added fresh spinach to each side of the bread.

Add spinach.

On one side I put slices of a ripe avocado.

Add sliced avocado to one side of bread.

Then I put the two slices together to make the sandwiches.  

Put the two slices together to make the sandwich.

I grilled the sandwiches in butter.

Grill in butter.

Ready to eat.  Delish!

This is a new twist on grilled cheese sandwiches that will be good not just on St. Patrick's Day but any day of the year. 

A Sandwich With Some of My Favorite Ingredients

Green Goddess grilled cheese sandwich. (Photo from tastespotting).

Recently I ran across a recipe for a sandwich that includes some of my favorite ingredients: cheese, avocado, spinach, and pesto.  I finally got around to making it for supper last night.  The recipe is from the blog Tastespotting.  I didn't make my own pesto and I substituted yogurt cheese for the mozzarella, but boy was this a good sandwich.

Adding pesto to bread.

Spread pesto on two slices of whole grain bread.

Add cheese.

Add a slice of cheese to one slice of the bread.

Add avocado.

Add spinach.

Add the avocado and the spinach to one side of the sandwich.

Add remaining slice of cheese.

Add the remaining slice of cheese.  Top with the other slice of bread.  And grill in a bit of olive oil until brown on each side.

Grill until browned.

After toasting, cut in half.  Dan and I each had half of the sandwich with a bowl of soup for a delicious supper.

Enjoy!

For the recipe go to the tastespotting blog.  Also check out her great photos of this sandwich.  I'm going to follow her blog.  She has amazing suggestions for healthy sandwiches.

Low Sodium Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Low sodium grilled cheese sandwich.

I've had to adjust my cooking because I'm trying to limit my sodium intake to 2000 mg (preferably 1500 mg) daily, and it's difficult.  I find it especially hard to come up with low sodium snacks.  Grilled cheese sandwiches are a favorite of mine, and I have managed to make one that is low in sodium, thanks to Trader Joe's.

The only bread I have been able to find that has no sodium is Trader Joe's Sodium Free Whole Wheat Bread.  Each slice has 0 mg sodium.

Cheese on the other hand, and I love cheese, is loaded with sodium.  Trader Joe's has two cheeses that are fairly low in sodium.  Their raw milk Emmentaler Swiss Cheese has 50 mg sodium per one ounce serving and that is extremely low for cheese. And their Yogurt Cheese has 140 mg sodium per slice.  So it's possible to make a cheese sandwich limiting the sodium to 50 or 140 mg.  I must admit I like the Yogurt Cheese better even though it is a bit higher in sodium content.

Low sodium Swiss cheese at Trader Joe's,

Trader Joe's low sodium yogurt cheese.

I've made grilled cheese sandwiches with both of these cheeses, and I believe I can get accustomed to having these instead of sandwiches that are loaded with sodium.

Low sodium (50mg to 140 mg sodium) grilled cheese sandwich with bell peppers as a snack or to accompany soup for a meal.

 I had no idea how much sodium is in food until I started checking labels carefully. Consider that a typical 1-ounce slice of bread has between 100 and 200 milligrams, depending on the type and brand.  An ounce of cheddar cheese has about 180 mg of sodium.  So a typical grilled cheese sandwich could contain anywhere from 380 to 580 mg of sodium.  That would be about a third of my daily quota.  And I'm not about to use a third of my daily allowance on a grilled cheese sandwich, no matter how much I like them.

I'll be posting other low sodium recipes on my blog in the future from time to time.  I've found there are a lot of folks out there trying to limit their sodium intake.