I drove to northern Iowa for a wedding and back over the weekend. My brother and I zoomed past endless rows of tightly packed corn and soy, punctuated by classic white farm houses and red barns that looked like they had popped right out of our childhood story books. Our cousin got married in a small farming community on a lake. It was quaint and beautiful and the sunny weather could not have been more lovely.
Ironically, however, the restaurant menus in this farm town were lacking in fresh food. I mean that as an observation, not a complaint—it was a good reminder that the farm-to-table movements still have a long way to go. In my daily life, I surround myself with people, restaurants and websites that also appreciate fresh cooking, so travel experiences always provide requisite jolts of reality. In town with my parents for lunch, I skimmed past an iceberg ranch dressing salad on an otherwise meaty menu. I was relieved to find a grilled cheese sandwich listed under the kids menu on the backside. I welcome an excuse to eat a classic grilled cheese sandwich with fries, but I just can’t imagine feeling well if I ate from those menus every day. My dad related the experience to the small Oklahoma town where I was born. (He always comes back home craving fresh food.)
On the six-hour drive home, I paused in Omaha to drop off my brother at the airport and found a highly rated local restaurant serving brunch on Yelp. As I waited for my roasted vegetable grits to arrive, I thought about how unfair it is to lump the middle of the country together as flyover land. It’s not the coasts vs. the Midwest anymore. If anything, it’s cities vs. small towns, and there’s so much goodness to be found in between. I think it’s just a matter of time until the small towns catch up. I’m not sure how I feel about the homogenization of America in general, but when it comes to healthy food and readily accessible information, I think it’s for the best.
I’ll quit rambling. These grilled cheese sandwiches are my tribute to the past weekend. I contemplated whether I should make them into quesadillas instead of sandwiches. I picked up the most marvelous loaf of whole grain sourdough in Kansas City last Thursday, so bread beat tortillas. These grilled cheese sandwiches are my kind of grilled cheese—buttery but not overwhelmingly so, made with melty real cheese and stuffed with some redeeming, tender, caramelized roasted balsamic veggies. I think you’ll love the combination of roasted broccoli, bell pepper and onion here. It is such a fun spin on a classic grilled cheese sandwich. Please let me know how the sandwiches turn out for you in the comments!
