The perfect vegan grilled cheese sandwich 🥪

 When I lived in England many years ago, I was introduced to my first toastie at my sons football club. What is a toastie? There are two key things that identify the toastie. First, it has to be buttered on the outside, so it develops a crisp, golden exterior. Second, it has to be compressed by a heavy lid, cast iron weight or a special utensil that keeps the bread and filling welded together.

Im sure the toastie has undergone a huge makeover in recent years, as new generations of cooks have brought new ideas of the US - Grilled Cheese to their version.

Upon returning back to the US I became obsessed with a grilled cheese sandwich. I started crafting a few creative ones with slices of apple, grilled vegetables tepenade’s and savory mixes. But I couldn’t get that perfect toastie.

Even though this sandwich is vegan, I have to say, this is by far the best one I have ever had! It taste like a carefully crafted gourmet sandwich.

If you give this a try, I would love your feedback!

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

For the cheese

1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon old bay seasoning

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 1/2 tablespoons mellow white miso

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers

1 1/2 cups whole unroasted cashews

pre- make caramelized red onion

For the sandwich

8 large slices Trader Joe’s Everything Pane bread

8 slices tomato

2-3 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil

salt

This recipe makes 4 sandwiches

1. In a high speed blender, combine the cashews, 1/2 cup water, the red peppers, nutritional yeast, miso, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, old bay seasoning turmeric, salt, and coconut oil. Blend until smooth. The mixture gets thick, so make sure your using a high speed blender. Scrape the sides down with a spatula to make sure everything gets blended.

2. Make the sandwiches

Pre-heat a large nonstick skillet (I recommend cast iron) over medium heat. Spread 1/4 cup of the cheese on each slice of bread. Place a slice or two of tomato on four of the bread slices,add some caramelized onion, then close the sandwich.

3. Melt a few tablespoons of coconut oil in the hot skillet and sprinkle with salt. Working in batches if you need to, place the sandwiches in the skillet and cook until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Flip each sandwich, placing small dollops of the coconut oil underneath each one, and cook until golden brown on the second side. These need to be served immediately.

Enjoy