Post sponsored by Arla USA. See below for more details.
One of the hardest parts about cooking is finding a balance between family members. Most of the time I cook one dish and everyone eats the same meal but occasionally I get a wild hair and make a few different items. This most often happens with lunch. I pack my husband a quick lunch in the morning while Mack and I eat together in the afternoon. I partnered with Arla to bring you these three different recipes featuring their cream cheese and cheese slices made from quality, natural ingredients.
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Arla's minimal ingredient cream cheese is the perfect, fresh balance for the hearty wheat bagel and fresh, raw vegetables. Beyond their herb and spice variety, I like to keep the original flavor on hand as well and mix in fresh herbs.
A grilled cheese sandwich fit for an adult loaded with wilted kale and perfectly melted gouda cheese.
Make the garlicky greens ahead of time to make this grilled cheese faster.
A fun way to get children to eat asparagus: roasted and paired with hummus and creamy melted havarti cheese.
This will result in a crisp top/sides but still soft piece of bread. If a crisp piece of bread is desired, place rack towards the middle of oven and lightly toast the bread before assembling. Also, instead of roasting the asparagus, you could shave and leave raw before placing the toast under the broiler.
Each of the lunch recipes above can be adapted based on items you might have on hand. Instead of buying bagels, just stick to bread. Need a recipe to be gluten-free? Swap in your favorite gluten-free products. Just remember to load up the vegetables on all the recipes!
Bagel Sandwich: Bagels can be on the heavier side. Try this sandwich with regular whole wheat bread or as a wrap.
Kale Grilled Cheese: Use spinach or chard- both work well with the garlic. I also love using a combination of the havarti and gouda on the sandwich.
Asparagus Toast: If I wasn't making this for my toddler, I would also spread a thin layer of grainy mustard before the hummus. You could also turn this into a quesadilla or grilled cheese crepe (another favorite!)
I'm fairly picky about my dairy products. I like Arla because I know every product contains minimal ingredients, free of preservatives, and it's easy to find at my local grocery stores. The cream cheese is light without containing other ingredients while the sliced cheese melts beautifully and contains a little bump of protein in my meal. A few of my other favorite ways to use the cream cheese and sliced cheese:
Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Onions
Romesco and Hummus Grilled Cheese
Avocado Quesadilla
Lasagna Stuffed Peppers
Disclosure: This recipe was created in partnership with Arla USA. All thoughts and opinions are my own. It’s content like this that helps me keep this site running to provide the vegetarian recipes you see every week.
Hey Erin, do you know if Raley's carries Arla products? I'd love to try them!
I believe they do! I picked my up at Safeway (close to my house) but I remember seeing Raley's on the list!
I'm loving all 3 of these ideas and it's so cool that you included individual videos, thanks!
Love your blog !
Any suggestions for bread other than franken wheat ?
Thanks
You can use whatever type of bread you like.
I, too, thought of it like Frankenwheat and gave it up until I discovered freshly milled wheat. I’m have zero issues digesting modern wheat since investing in a Mockmill to grind wheat berries. Love your blog, Erin, and your book on fresh milled flours. Thank you!!!
Variety is always a good thing. I love the asparagus hummus toast, yum!
I really really like visiting your blog!!! Love all the three lunch recipe you offered. For more happy and healthy lunch:)