Sprout Salad and a Slightly Spicy Sandwich

Not long ago, I saw a recipe for Brussels Sprout salad on a blog I am almost surprised I follow, The Chubby Vegetarian.  It may come as a shock that I am a fan of such a site, as I am a meat lover through and through; however, the more blog browsing I did, the more recipes I found.  This particular recipe subs Brussels sprout leaves for lettuce for a solid bite.  This switch-up makes the greens the star of the salad instead of a bed for the more interesting ingredients.  As I mentioned, I am a fan of meat so I used the vegetarian recipe as inspiration instead of dictation and added bacon.  Because the sprout leaves are thick and flavorful, the salad does not need to be elaborate.  The leaves are blanched to give them a gorgeous bright green color, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, topped with the bacon, and capped with a poached egg.  I may have veered away from The Chubby Vegetarian's meatless goal, but this was a dang good salad.  

I didn't think a simple salad would be enough, so I turned to another favorite blog for further menu guidance.  Grilled Cheese Social is about one thing and one thing only: inventive grilled cheeses.  My variation was not as crazy as some of this chick's cheesy combos, but it was new to my sandwich repertoire, and I am quite proud of it.  I mixed up some sriracha mayo and spread it on two slices of sourdough bread.  I covered one half in shredded Vermont white cheddar, added two slices of tomato, and then a little more cheddar on top of that to bind it to the other half slice of bread.  No butter needed to get this grill goin - I cooked it in the bacon grease that was leftover from my non-vegetarian salad topping.  This sandwich was cheesy love.  The sriracha mayo gave it just enough kick and the versatile white cheddar didn't compete.  The key to the tomato is to make sure it's nice and firm.  If you find just the right tomato, it will take this sandwich from good to great.  And mine was great.