Grilled 3-cheese and arugula sandwich.

People, I gotta tell you: We have a lot of cheese around here. I say this as an observation and not a complaint … but my word, we have in the fridge more cheese than two people should rightly have in the fridge.

This is thanks to a very generous birthday gift from my grandmother, a lovely box from The Cheese Shop in Indianapolis: hunks, at least a half-pound each, of cheddar, swiss, gouda, gruyere, leerdammer and grinzing, plus a 16-ounce tub of herb cream cheese. Oh, and a summer sausage. Which reminds me of a South Park episode …

It’s going moldy faster than we can use it up (not a problem: we’ll just trim away the weird parts), and so we’re getting creative. Stay tuned for a post soon about my experimentation with mac and cheese.

Rob, the resident grilled cheese expert, concocted this magnificent sandwich to use three—three!—kinds of cheese. You can use any kind of cheese you like, but there are three keys to this grilled cheese sandwich: 1) arugula, a delicious, peppery addition [which also allows you the fantasy that this sandwich is in some teeny way healthy]; 2) the herbed cream cheese, which sort of glues the arugula between the bread and creates this wonderfully oozy, highly flavored sandwich, and 3) good sourdough bread. This is what we call a DFS: a damn fine sandwich.

grilled 3-cheese and arugula sandwich

(for each sandwich)

two kinds of cheese, sliced thinly—cheddar, swiss, provolone, smoked cheddar, monterey jack, etc.
2 tsp. herbed cream cheese or Boursin
2 slices good bakery sourdough bread
handful of fresh arugula
fresh ground pepper

Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium high heat. For each sandwich, spritz the outside of each bread slice lightly with cooking spray. Layer sliced cheese on one slice of bread; spread herbed cream cheese on the other slice, top with arugula and season with fresh ground pepper. Place the bread with the sliced cheese on the griddle and top with the other half of the sandwich; press firmly with a spatula. Grill sandwiches until deep golden brown on each side, about 5–6 minutes per side.