​Cuban-Inspired Grilled Cheese with an Avocado Twist

The grilled cheese is a classic. Golden brown crust and a gooey cheesy center; it’s the quintessential sandwich in its simplicity. 

I grew up eating old-fashioned grilled cheeses. You know, white bread, American singles cooked with a pat of butter in an old fashioned non-stick skillet. I’d have a bowl of tomato soup on the side or in the summer carrot sticks and not the “baby-cut” kind of today but actual sticks of carrot my Mom cleaned and cut herself. 

Crazy, right?

As an adult a standard grilled cheese feels just like that, standard. Just as I have grown up so has one of my favorite lunches. Now anything goes from the type of cheese and bread, to extra fillings. One of my favorite things to do is dress up a standard grilled cheese. My latest inspiration comes from a classic Cuban sandwich. 

A Cuban is a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich served on Cuban bread with yellow mustard, roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese and dill pickles. It’s traditionally toasted or pressed and cut into diagonal halves for serving. 

It’s one of my favorite sandwiches of all time and I love recreating it when I have leftover pork loin in the fridge from dinner the night before. 

However, I can never leave well enough (or in this case, a recipe) alone. I always need to put my own personal spin on it and the case of s Cuban inspired grilled cheese that spin involves avocado, of course! 

CUBAN-INSPIRED GRILLED CHEESE RECIPE WITH AN AVOCADO TWIST

Serves: 1 sandwich 

Prep time:  5 minutes
Cook time: 4-6 minutes
Total time: 9-12 minutes

Ingredients
¼ ripe, Fresh California Avocado, seeded and peeled
2 tsp. yellow mustard
2 slices of bread
2 slices of deli ham
2 oz. pork loin or roast, sliced
2 dill pickle stackers 
1 slice of Swiss cheese

Directions

1. Pre-heat a non-stick skillet or griddle. 
2. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the yellow mustard to make the sandwich spread. 
3. Smear the sandwich spread on one of the slices of bread. Top it with the ham, then pork, then pickles and finally the cheese.
4. Spray the skillet with non-stick cooking spray and grill the sandwich on one side for 2-3 minutes until the bread is toasted. Flip and press, grilling the other side until the cheese is melted and the bread is browned.
5. Slice diagonally and enjoy!