Grilled Chipotle Ham & Cheese



Okay, so I'll admit it in a heartbeat- I am obsessed with barbecue sauce.  I eat it on chicken, french fries, pizza, burgers- almost everything.  So imagine my excitement when I came across raspberry chipotle sauce.  This stuff can be put on top of EVERYTHING and make anything taste sweet, smokey, and juicy all at the same time. 

My Uncle Richard and my mom use it for a marinade for pork tenderloin.  I've used it on top of chicken.  And for the fastest dip you'll ever make in your life (and that will be consumed in the fastest amount of time you'll ever see in your life), I pour it over cream cheese (Raspberry Cream Cheese recipe coming soon).  I love restaurants like Panera and Jason's Deli, but I have found it damn-near impossible to make sandwiches as good as their's.  I guess that's what gives them the right to charge the outlandish price of $10 for 2 pieces of bread, some meat and toppings. 

A few weeks ago, when I was bored of my same-ol', same-ol' "turkey and light cheese on light wheat with spicy mustard" that I take to work every day, I decided to slather on some raspberry chipotle sauce.  Why not? It's never tasted weird on anything else I'd put it on, so it was worth a try.  I had a few extra minutes, so I thought I'd try grilling it and see what came out.  Oh, my- what came out was not only a grilled ham and cheese, but a Chipotle Ham & Cheese- a gooey, warm ham sandwich grilled to perfection with just a touch of sweet tartness.  It was AMAZING! Ok, so it wasn't Panera, but it saved me $10 and a trip to the restaurant and tasted pretty awesome.

Grilled Chipotle Ham & Cheese

Grilled Chipotle Ham & Cheese

Kate Strickland

Servings: 1

Grilled Chipotle Ham & Cheese

• 2 slices bread (I use light wheat)
• 4 slices ham (I use Oscar Mayer 99% fat free)
• 1 slice jalapeno jack cheese (or cheese of your liking)
• 1 tbsp raspberry chipotle sauce (a few brands available- available at most grocery stores, Central Market, or World Market)
• Butter to spread on bread

1. Coat one side of each slice of bread with butter (I use the "I can't believe it's not butter" spray, so it coats evenly and lightly)
2. Place bread, buttered-side down on a pan on the stovetop
3. Put cheese on one piece of bread
4. Top cheese with 1/2 tbsp raspberry chipotle sauce
5. On the other piece of bread, put 2 slices of ham
6. Top ham with other 1/2 tbsp raspberry chipotle sauce
7. Top sauce with last 2 piece of ham
8. Turn stovetop on med heat and warm until bread is toasted on the bottom side

Keep on cookin'!

-Katherine

Grilled Ham & PepperJack Cheese Sandwich

When I was a freshman at The University of Texas, I lived in the newest dorm at the time, San Jacinto.  I was living on campus, right across the street from the football stadium, and right above an amazing deli.  It was an added bonus that Andy Roddick worked out on the track and field outside of my window.  The dorm across the way, Jester, had a huge cafeteria called Jester City Limits "JCL" and also an all-you-can-eat buffet, but I usually opted for San Jac's deli.  (Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of chicken strips and baked potatoes at JCL.  Actually, I usually cut up the chicken strips, put them in the baked potato, and topped it with cheese and gravy.  Freshman fifteen much?)  The deli at San Jac had typical deli sandwiches, but I usually chose the simple grilled ham and cheese and substituted pepper jack cheese for American.   Kraft Singles just don't do it for me.  I'm sure the deli used full calorie wheat bread, full fat cheese, and regular (not reduced fat) ham, so it probably wasn't a healthy option, but boy was it yummy.  Well, I must have overdosed on these grilled ham & pepper jack cheese sandwiches freshman year because I didn't eat another one for the next 6 years until yesterday.

San Jacinto Dorm (close enough to the stadium, ya think?)

I started buying Nature's Own Light Wheat bread when I did Weight Watchers in college because, on the old points system, two slices of bread only had 1 point.  On the new PointsPlus system, the light wheat bread still only has 2 points, which isn't much at all for bread (the average allotment is about 29 points in a day on the new system).  I also buy either Hillshire Farm or the generic brand of reduced fat ham because it is 98-99% fat free.  One serving, approximately 6 slices, has 1 points on Weight Watchers PointsPlus.

The bread aisle can be overwhelming- here's the bread I'm talking about.

Last is the cheese.  I LOVE cheese, but I usually don't eat it on sandwiches because I feel like the deliciousness of cheese is lost in a sandwich, and it adds calories and fat.  Typically, when I eat cheese, I put it on crackers or eat it by itself to savor the flavor.  (Hey, if I'm going to spend the calories and fat, I may as well enjoy it!)  Sargento makes amazing cheese, and recently I found a Colby and PepperJack cheese mix in slices, made by Sargento.  The cheese has 2 points on PointsPlus, but it is well worth the taste- and it adds calcium and protein to your sandwich.

Below is the recipe for my Grilled Ham & PepperJack Cheese sandwich- inspired by San Jac, but with less calories and fat- like I usually do, I've taken one of my favorite meals and given it a healthy makeover! Enjoy!

Grilled Ham & PepperJack Cheese Sandwich
Servings: 1, Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 5

I was out of ham, so I substituted turkey-- just a delicious!

• 2 slices light wheat bread
• 1 slice pepper jack cheese
• 1 serving, appr. 6 slices ham

1. Spray a medium sized (where two pieces of bread can fit flat) with light cooking spray
2. Place bread side by side in pan
3. Top one slice of bread with cheese
4. Top the other slice of bread with ham
5. When cheese begins to melt, put two pieces of bread together, making your sandwich
6. Flip sandwich
7. Grill until toasted light brown

Closer up- again, I was out of ham, so this is turkey substituted.