I wanted to name this post “How to re-purpose office bagels” which is exactly what I did with a bagel I snatched from the office Friday afternoon. Have I ever explained how entirely selfish I am when it comes to food?
One, you would think I grew up in the depression era the way I detest wasting food–it comes across as I’m hoarding it. Because I am. You should see me at our quarterly video conference meetings. I have walked away from these meetings with Tupperware containers full of the leftover catered lunch. I’m not even joking!
Two, I don’t share well with others. I had to remind my coworker on Friday (after admonishing her) that we don’t offer our food to others until we have taken all the helpings that we want for ourselves. So the idea is basically that you offer the food to others when you don’t want any more of it. I thought we had already made this rule clear so I was nonplussed when, during a morning meeting, she announced to everyone that we had bagels back in our area.
Despite the fact that the bagels were offered up to everyone, I still walked away with four (and I left about five for someone else to take). I should mention another thing. I’m not overly fond of bagels. So you know I have a real problem when I’m hoarding food I don’t even love that much!
I thought to myself when I got home from work yesterday: Self, what are you going to do with all those bagels you swiped? And I instantly thought of Instagram and the photos I’ve recently seen of bagel grilled cheese sandwiches. I’ve seen two different kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches but mainly I see pics of inside out ones, where you grill the inside of the bagel and put your cheese on the outside. I opted for that version on my first try because I actually thought I would like the other way better.
ingredients.
- bagel (no office swiping required)
- shredded cheese
- butter
directions.
- Butter the insides of your bagel (cut side) and place buttered sides down into a frying pan.
- Top the bagel outsides with the shredded cheese choice of your choosing.I used mozzarella, cheddar and chipotle jack cheeses. Cook, covered, over medium low heat until your bagel is browned on the bottom and your cheese has melted.
- Flip one bagel over onto the other, press down and enjoy.
I meant to only eat a bite or two of this grilled cheese sandwich because I was sure it was just going to be OK. I ate the whole thing. It’s different from a regular grilled cheese sandwich for obvious reasons (texture) but I found I rather enjoyed it the delicate sponginess of each bite. Not that I would go out and buy bagels specifically to make grilled cheese. But I figured the next time there were surplus office bagels I would be as eager, if not more, to swipe some. I decided after the success of the first grilled cheese bagel sandwich to do a breakfast version for my next go round and butter the outsides of the bagel instead of the insides. Stay tuned!
Food Snob 