Double Decker Honey Basil Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Who wants a detox recipe this week?  Not you?  YAY!  You’re in for a treat with this Double Decker Honey Basil Grilled Cheese Sandwich!  Some days you want a healthy sandwich with grilled chicken, baby spinach, and bean sprouts but other days you want a fattening, messy, down and dirty sandwich with gobs of melted cheese.  Today I want the latter.  Yeah, yeah yeah, it’s January so I’m supposed to share the obligatory smoothie or detox recipe, but I’m straight up sick folks, and when I’m sick, only an ungodly amount of cheese can ail me.

Speaking of being sick, this post should be interesting.  I’ve been battling a head cold for the last few days which means I’ve been walking around in a DayQuil-ish stupor.  And I’m not just consuming DayQuil mind you,  I’ve been guzzling ALL the Quil’s: MorningQuil, LateMorningQuil, AfternoonQuil, DayQuil, TwilightQuil, NyQuil, and MidNyQuil.  I’m so loopy right now there’s a decent chance this post won’t make sense and my photography will be out of focus.

I just thought of something.  I should have taken a food picture of me drizzling honey over the sandwich while it cooked.  That probably would have looked baller.  Damn it!!  Next time…

Kieran and I had hoped to go hiking on New Year’s Day, however, 2016 struck again.  2016 bitch slapped us one last time rendering us both sick on New Year’s Eve.  What did you guys do on NYE?  Party?  Dress up all fancy and hang out with family and friends?  That’s nice.  Kieran and I laid in a heap on the couch, donned in our jammies while coughing and sneezing all over each other.  It was hot.

The worst part about being sick at the same time?  Owning a 5-month-old German Shepherd puppy with endless energy.  Homie wanted to go outside and play while Kieran and I struggled to get off the couch.  Homie doesn’t play the sick card, she looked at us like, suck it up germ bags, we either burn off my energy outside or I’m going to tear up your house.  We begrudgingly took turns playing with Homie in the backyard or taking her for a walk.  Homie’s worth it though, she’s awesome.

When we weren’t playing with our dog, we napped, sipped tea, and binge-watched Westworld.  Holy shit, Westworld #amirite?  We had to eat, so I finally summoned the energy to roll off the couch and make us some sandwiches.  Kieran and I spent 3 days slurping down soup and eating crackers, we were getting hangry.  I needed to produce a hearty recipe that would fill our grumbling stomachs.  I also needed to make a recipe that was easy because I lacked the energy to make anything else.  Double Decker Honey-Basil Grilled Cheese Sandwiches were the result.  And the verdict is in folks, the results were amazing.

If you haven’t paired honey with tomato sauce yet, now is the time.  Honey masks the acidity of tomatoes giving them a robust, sweet flavor.  This is especially useful when sweet, perfectly ripened tomatoes aren’t in season!  I ate tomato sauce laced with honey for the first time when Kieran made tomato, honey, and corn pizza from scratch.  I thought, ugh, you’re putting honey on our pizza, you animal!  But much to my chagrin, the pizza turned out amazing!  I’ve been a fan ever since.

Now, if you’re looking for nice, neat sandwich move along – this baby ain’t for you.  My Double Decker Honey Basil Sandwich is a delightful – you’ll need a few paper towels – ooey gooey mess!  The honey will stick to your face, the tomato sauce will dribble down your chin, and the butter will grease up your fingers as you sink your teeth into this bad boy.  The more you eat, the messier and tastier this sandwich becomes.  It’s a magical fun town of tasty – OK, this may be one of the Quil’s talking. 

Some notes about the Double Decker Honey Basil Sandwich:

• I used Dave’s Killer Bread.  I don’t know if you have Killer Dave’s bread in your area, but if you do, I highly recommend it!  Cool fact about Dave’s Killer Bread – One in three of their employee partners has a criminal background.  They specialize in Second Chance employment giving felons the opportunity to better their lives in a productive and positive way which leads to lasting change.
• I used Dave’s white bread, but use whatever type of bread you prefer.
• I don’t use specific measurements for some ingredients because you can use as much, or as little, as you want.
• If you purchase a new jar of tomato sauce just for this recipe, use up the remaining sauce in another pasta dish for that week’s dinner, or freeze it until you’re ready to use it.
• You can make the sandwich a double-decker, a triple-decker, or a good ol’ fashion single decker.
• You can swap out fresh sliced tomato for tomato sauce.

Double Decker Honey Basil Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are a fun way to devour an old recipe.  Regular cheese, butter, and bread sandwiches taste great, however, honey, basil, and tomato sauce are a great way to add vivacity to a timeless classic.

Yes, I’ll be focusing on healthier recipes – probably smoothies per January blogger protocol – in the near future, but if you need another week of gluttony goodness, I won’t judge.  In the meantime, I need to lacquer on another layer of Vic’s VapoRub and take another dose of Quil.

Happy 2017 everyone, eat your Double Decker Honey Basil Grilled Cheese hearts out, and be well!

Thanks for stopping by,

Christina