By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- About 10 minutes if your greens are already blanched
- Rating
- 4(47)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This dish is the one that inspired me to devote a week of Recipes for Health to toaster-oven vegetable and grilled cheese sandwiches. I made it one night after a day preparing enough quiche to feed 80 for a book signing. When I got home I had still more quiches to make in my own kitchen, and the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner for myself.
But I was hungry. So I looked in the refrigerator and found a bowl of beet greens that I’d blanched a day or two earlier, and roasted beets that had once been attached to those greens. I pulled a couple of slices of bread from the freezer, looked in my cheese bin, and here is what I slapped together.
I loved it so much that I made it again the next night. It’s always a good idea to blanch greens as soon as you get them home from the market. You never know when you’ll want to use them in a pinch.
Featured in: Grilled Cheese for Grownups
or to save this recipe.
Print Options
Include recipe photo
Advertisem*nt
Ingredients
Yield:Serves 1
- 2large slices whole-wheat country bread (3 ounces total)
- ½garlic clove (optional)
- About ¾ ounce (3 tablespoons crumbled) Gorgonzola or creamy blue cheese
- ⅓cup chopped blanched beet greens
- Chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, marjoram (optional)
- ½teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1small or ½ medium beet, sliced thin
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)
277 calories; 8 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 562 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
Step
1
Rub surface of one slice of bread with the cut clove of garlic if desired. Spread blue cheese over the bread. If you wish, save a little cheese for the top slice.
Step
2
Toss greens with herbs if desired. Spoon over cheese and press down onto the bread. Drizzle on ¼ teaspoon olive oil. Arrange beet slices over the greens. If desired, add a little more cheese: either spread on the top slice of bread or sprinkle it over the beets. If desired, rub second piece of bread with the cut garlic clove before spreading with cheese. Place over beets and press down firmly. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the top slice.
Step
3
Toast in toaster oven for 3 to 4 minutes, until cheese has melted. Remove from toaster, press down firmly, cut in half and serve.
- If you are worried about cheese oozing out onto your toaster oven’s heating element (the burnt cheese smells horrible), then place on a baking sheet. Toast for 3 minutes, then flip over and toast for 1 minute more. You can also make this in a panini grill.
- Advance preparation: You can assemble this sandwich and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to a day. Toast when ready.
Ratings
4
out of 5
47
user ratings
Your rating
or to rate this recipe.
Have you cooked this?
or to mark this recipe as cooked.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Jen in Astoria
Martha--not all heroes wear capes. I have an unexpected abundance of expensive cheese at home now, and I was looking for more uses for it all...thank you, will try this as I love beets and their greens.
Ferdinand
I love the combination of flavors here, but I prefer to use roquefort over gorgonzola.
Amirissa
I was looking for a quick easy to throw together sandwich and this did not disappoint at all. I was very pleased with the taste! Rather than layer cheese, herbs, and oil, I just mixed it all together along with a minced clove of garlic and just spread the mixture over the bread before toasting. I also added some lemon for some acidity.
SonicRuth
Tasty sandwiches! Put mine on homemade flax sandwich bread, spread with goat cheese. Used the foil wrapped method for oven roasting the beets. Added a fried egg, grilled on a cast iron grill pan. Served with shoestring fries. Will make again and again.
Jen in Astoria
Martha--not all heroes wear capes. I have an unexpected abundance of expensive cheese at home now, and I was looking for more uses for it all...thank you, will try this as I love beets and their greens.
SFCook
Interesting flavor combination for simple ingredients. Perhaps the recipe should be updated to show 'roasted beet', only mentioned in the header note. I found a bag of beet greens at a farmer's market, but they are not readily available. Greens are rarely attached to beets, and, when they are, it would take many beets - more than we would ever eat in 1-2 meals - to collect the recommended amount. They reduce when blanched and it took nearly 3/4 lb. for two sandwiches.
Megan
I wasn't sure how I would feel about this since I haven't eaten beets except for pickled and in borsht, but this was really good! I would definitely make it again. I sliced and boiled the beets a little bit (still kind of crunchy, but a little softer--maybe 2 minutes) with the greens. I toasted it with a George Foreman grill and a little spray of olive oil. Even my boyfriend liked this sandwich, which was surprising.
Private notes are only visible to you.
