A fun twist on a grilled cheese sandwich that gets in lots of veggies!
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Keyword: Baby Led Weaning Friendly, Vegetarian
Servings: 4sandwiches
Calories: 821kcal
Ingredients
8 mediumcarrots
¼cupolive oilplus more for roasting
1bunchkale
2tsp minced garlic
2tbsplemon juice
¼cuphemp seeds
8slicesbreadwe find sourdough works well here
4 tbspbutterunsalted
16thin slicesasiago cheeseor 1 cup shaved parmesan cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450°F. Cut carrots into long slices, about ¼ inch thick. There is no need to peel the carrots as long as they are washed well.
8 medium carrots
Spread carrots on a baking sheet covered with foil or a silicone baking mat. Drizzle with olive oil. Toss to lightly coat both sides. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until soft, tossing halfway through.
Meanwhile, remove the center ribs of the kale and tear into pieces. Add to a food processor with the ¼ cup olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and hemp seeds. Process until it is a smooth pesto consistency.
¼ cup olive oil, 1 bunch kale, 2 tsp minced garlic, 2 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ cup hemp seeds
Butter one side of each piece of bread.
8 slices bread, 4 tbsp butter
Spread pesto on the unbuttered side of 4 pieces of bread. Place carrots across the top of the pesto so that the whole piece of bread is covered. It is okay if some carrots hang over the end of the bread, but don’t get too close to the sides or the carrots will fall out with cooking.
If you are using slices of cheese, add them now to cover the entire piece of bread and then top with another piece of bread, with the butter side out.
16 thin slices asiago cheese
If you are using the shaved parmesan, I recommend putting the slice of bread with pesto and carrots in the pan first, and then adding the cheese. Add the cheese to the center of the bread primarily so that it doesn’t all fall out, it will spread out as you cook it. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side out.
Cook on medium to medium-low heat so that the cheese has time to melt before the bread gets too dark, flipping once so both sides are cooked.
Serve in fingers to toddlers, or cut in half for adults. For babies under a year, serve the components separately as noted above.
Notes
* A sliced hard cheese like asiago works well for this sandwich, but we found that it wasn’t always available or affordable in our local stores. The shaved parmesan is also delicious and tends to be available everywhere. It can also be bought in bulk at stores like Costco where we live. When using the shaved parmesan, add it to the middle of the sandwich once it is already on the stove, then top with another piece of bread. If pieces of the cheese fall out, simply use your spatula to push them up against the edges of the bread and make little cheese crunchies. It adds another delicious layer to the sandwich!** If you are making more than one or two sandwiches at a time, I recommend using multiple pans or a griddle like this to speed it up! We can usually get 3-4 sandwiches at a time on that griddle.