Pesto Grilled Cheese and Vegetable Soup
May we present our version of the tried-and-true grilled cheese and tomato soup. We dolled up the grilled cheese with a spinach pesto and packed as many seasonal vegetables in the soup as we could.
Servings
Produce
Green Beans
4 2 oz
Yellow Onion (Organic)
1/2 0.25 Whole
Sweet Corn
1 0.5 Whole
Carrot (Organic)
6 3 oz
Garlic (Organic)
2 1 Clove
Petite Potato
5 2.5 oz
Zucchini (Organic)
1 0.5 Whole
Sweet peppers
5 2.5 oz
Roma Tomato
7 3.5 oz
Protein & more
Mozzarella
2 1 cup
Easy Tiger Sourdough Bread
1/2 0.25 Whole
Pantry items
Olive oil
2 1 teaspoon
Butter, salted
4 2 tablespoon
Spice mix
Basil, dried
1 0.5 teaspoon
Dried thyme
1 0.5 teaspoon
Dried oregano
1 0.5 teaspoon
Bay leaf
1 0.5 Whole
Spinach and Basil Pesto
Olive oil
1/4 0.125 cup
Minced Garlic
1 0.5 Clove
Cashews
1/8 0.065 cup
Lemon juice
1 0.5 teaspoon
Spinach
1/2 0.25 cup
Basil
1/2 0.25 cup
Prep ahead (optional)
a. Husk corn; cut kernels from cob. b. Trim stem ends off sweet peppers; thinly slice rings or ½” pieces. c. ½” dice zucchini. d. ¼” dice yellow onion. e. Peel carrots; ½” coins or dice. f. Cut potatoes into ½” pieces. g. ½” dice roma tomatoes. h. Remove green bean ends & snap beans bite-sized. i. Mince garlic.
Instructions
1
Cook vegetable soup:
a. In large soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add garlic (mince), onion (¼” dice), carrots (peel, ½” coins or dice), 1 tsp salt, and veggie soup herbs; cook until onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
b. Add potatoes (½” pieces), roma tomatoes (½” dice), and 5 cups water (2½ cups for 2-person portion). Stir to combine.
c. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Add green beans (snap ends, snap beans bite-sized), and cook until carrots and potatoes begin to soften, about 12 minutes.
d. Add corn (husk, cut kernels from cob), sweet peppers (trim stems and seeds, thinly slice rings or ½” pieces), and zucchini (½” dice). Cook until all vegetables are tender, another 7-10 minutes. Add salt to taste.
2
Cook grilled cheese:
a. Brush one side of each Easy Tiger sourdough bread slice with butter or a combination of olive oil and butter (see Chef's Tip).
b. Slather the opposite side with spinach basil pesto.
c. Lay a slice of bread butter-side down into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle approximately ¼-½ cup of shredded mozzarella over slice and top with remaining slice of bread, butter-side up. Grill until golden (reducing heat if the butter browns before the cheese begins to melt), about 2 minutes.
d. Carefully flip and brown the other side, another 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is melted. You may need to continue flipping to avoid burning the bread.
e. Slice sandwiches in half for serving.
3
Serve:
a. Divide vegetable soup among bowls.
b. Serve oozy-delicious pesto grilled sandwiches alongside.
Chef's notes
Try a combination of melted butter and olive oil for brushing lightly onto the bread slices for grilling. You’ll get all of the buttery goodness with half the saturated fat.
All spice mixes and dressings made by Inner Chef from scratch with organic ingredients, local when possible.
This week’s local ingredients across all Inner Chef meal-kits come from:
Gundermann Acres,
Wharton County, TX
Wharton County, TX
Fagan Family Farm
Lone Star Herbs,
League City, TX
League City, TX
G&S Groves,
Mission, TX
Mission, TX
The Farm Patch,
Pleasanton, TX
Pleasanton, TX
Kitchen Pride,
Gonzales, TX
Gonzales, TX
Fruitful Hill Farm,
Bastrop, TX
Bastrop, TX
J&B Farms,
Hondo, TX
Hondo, TX
Martinez Farms,
Pleasanton, TX
Pleasanton, TX
J&D Farms
Village Farms,
Marfa, TX
Marfa, TX