Roasted Zucchini Grilled Cheese #SecretRecipeClub

It’s fall, therefore zucchini plants everywhere are working overtime leaving gardeners to wonder: what shall I make next?  Should I freeze this?  Foist it on my unsuspecting neighbor?  Or maybe start getting creative with some amazing grilled cheese?

I’m stepping in at the last minute to help out Secret Recipe Club Group A, and Cathleen, from A Taste of Madness spurred me and my aggressive zucchini plant to creativity!  Cathleen is a Canadian blogger, dessert lover (a woman after my own heart), and math teacher! 

There were so many delicious dessert recipes I wanted to try, but I was leaving town for a wedding, so sadly I couldn’t make her yummy sounding carrot cake or s’mores brownie pie (sad face). 

I thought about making something breakfast-y since school is back in session, like toasted almond granola (I only had whole almonds) or 100% whole wheat mini muffins (totally something I would make for this kids for snack!)

But ultimately the zucchini and a crazy easy recipe won me over.  I started a new job this week (my baby went to kindergarten, so I did too!  I’m now working part time at my kids’ school! Yay!) AND managed to get tonsillitis AND I had a bunch of zucchini in the fridge!

Now, I must admit that I cheated the recipe a bit.  The title says that the zucchini is roasted, but mine is sautéed (and had been in the fridge overnight), so you’ll have to zip on over to Cathleen’s blog for the roasted zucchini instructions.  I’ll give you the cheater version here.  Also, her recipe called for pepper-jack cheese (drool) but mine was moldy (double sad face) so I used a combination of cheddar and mozzarella instead with a dash of sriracha for spice. 

So how was it?  It was amazing!!!  Like I said, I have A LOT of leftover zucchini happening right now, so I made this sandwich for myself 3 days in a row.  In other words, it’s a winner!

Recipe Notes:

-For roasted zucchini instructions, see A Taste of Madness

-To use sautéed zucchini, melt butter in a skillet and partially caramelize some onions (half a small onion will do).  Add 1 sliced zucchini and cook over medium heat until both sides are lightly browned, a total of 5-8 minutes.  Sprinkled with parmesan cheese and serve.

-If using refrigerated zucchini, microwave it for about 30 seconds prior to making a sandwich or the bread will burn before the center gets warm.

Roasted Zucchini Grilled Cheese

Adapted from A Taste of Madness

½ cup leftover roasted or sautéed zucchini (see note)

1 slice cheddar cheese

1 thick slice mozzarella cheese

Dash of sriracha

2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, preferably homemade

2 tbsp spreadable butter

Dash of garlic powder, optional

Spread the butter onto one side of each piece of bread and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder.

Place the cheddar on the unbuttered side of one slice of bread.  Top with zucchini and sriracha.

Place the mozzarella on the unbuttered side of the other piece of bread.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Place the bread, buttered sides down onto the hot skillet (it’s imperative the skillet is hot before placing the bread in it or the butter won’t caramelize properly).

Once the bread is browned and the butter is caramelized (the cheese should be melted), flip the mozzarella side over the zucchini side and enjoy (if the cheese is not completely melted, microwave it for 10-15 seconds to speed up the process – don’t microwave too long of the bread will get mushy and you’ll be sad).

Makes 1 sandwich.

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