Grilled Tomato and Brie Sandwiches

I had both a great weekend and yet a terrible weekend. I finished a terrific book that left me in tears at the end (which I love), went to an exciting and fun concert, hung out with a great friend…and both completely crashed my computer and nearly destroyed my iPhone. While I had come to grips a while ago with the fact that I’m way past due for a new computer, I’m praying the Geek Squad can salvage what is left of my 6-year-old, out-of-warranty-computer, and pull the documents, pictures and music I hadn’t yet backed up to my external hard drive. As I stood in line at Best Buy with my precious computer folded into my arms the way a toddler carries a teddy bear, I was reminded of the episode of Sex and The City where Carrie gets the “sad-Mac” and loses everything. Panic, anger, fear, paranoia and sadness all kick in at the same time which is when one really becomes aware of just how attached to their computer they are. And while I was both freaked out about losing some of my files yet elated that this meant I could get a computer that actually keeps up with me, I wasn’t happy to be turning over my credit card to the very nice boy at Best Buy. To top it off, after bring home said new computer, an error occurred while updating my iPhone and after spending over 45 minutes on the phone with Apple Support, I was told everything was gone. The backup, which iTunes had confirmed happened…didn’t. As I’m about to freak out, looking at my blank gray, foreign-looking iPhone, with no contacts, photos, or apps, I unplugged it and plugged it back in, praying for a miracle, and voilà! Everything miraculously showed up. Even the Apple Support person couldn’t explain it. Oh, modern technology, how I love and hate thee.

That being said, in my computer-grieving, financial-impact-of-buying-a-new-computer, and near-panic-attack-from-almost-losing-everything-on-my-iPhone depression, I wanted – no, needed – comfort food. And a quintessential comfort dish to me is grilled cheese. Since I still had some Brie left from last week, I figured now was as good a time as any to make Grilled Tomato and Brie Sandwiches. Nutty, creamy Brie and Dijon mustard are spread over your favorite bread (I used Oatnut which is my favorite but I only allow myself to buy about once a year), and topped with fresh tomatoes and arugula and/or spinach before being grilled to perfection on a grill pan. While I think Brie is best complemented by something sweet, like fruit, honey, or chocolate, this sandwich settled me down just the way comfort food is supposed to. But I might be needing something a little more comforting when I get my credit card bill.

Like Brie? Check out this and this!

The ingredients:

Brush olive oil onto one side of each bread slice and rub garlic over oil.

Turn bread slices over and spread Dijon mustard on each slice. Top each bread slice with cheese, greens, and tomato slices. Top each with remaining 4 bread slices, oil side up.