Grilled Pear Sandwich with Caramelized Onion Jam & Tomato Jerk Jam

Who doesn’t love a grilled sandwich? I discovered that pears are delicious on a grilled rye sandwich. I don’t have a grill nor a yard for grilling, but if you turn your stove fan on high and pay attention you can grill thinly sliced pears on the electric burner. Just don’t try to do more than three slices at a time.

To make this sandwich, I heated my griddle to medium heat and buttered two slices of rye bread. I spread some caramelized onion jam on one side and some tomato jerk jam on the other. I layered 1/2 of a pear thinly sliced and grilled on top of both slices of bread and let them cook on the griddle until toasted, putting the sandwich together after it’s done.

The char on the pear gives it such a delicious flavor, sort of sweet and smoky. The onion jam is deep and herbaceous with the flavor of bay and thyme lifted by balsamic vinegar. The tomato jerk jam is bright, sweet and earthy. Together they all come together into a burst of flavor that is bright, fresh, and satisfying. If you spread the rye bread with olive oil instead of butter, you could make a vegan version.

 

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Tomato Jerk Jam

Grilled Pears, Tomato Jam, & Caramelized Onions

I make tomato jam several ways using variations on the New York Times recipe. I made the recipe as written once, but thought it was far too sweet. I use half the sugar, switched to brown sugar, and quite a bit more lime juice. I sometimes use cinnamon and red pepper flakes, sometimes I add a habanero, but the best, I think, is this one with Jamaica Jerk seasoning mix. It’s a deeper, more earthy flavor.

• 1 ½ pounds good ripe tomatoes, chopped. If you use cherry tomatoes, cut the sugar to 1/3 cup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Juice from two fresh limes
• Zest from two fresh limes
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon Jamaica Jerk
• 1 teaspoon salt

Dump everything in a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring steadily. Bring the heat down to a simmer and let it cook down to jam consistency. This will take about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how juicy your tomatoes are. Check on it and give it a little stir about every 15 minutes so it cooks evenly and you don’t let it scorch. Taste about mid-way through and add seasoning to your taste. When it’s cooked down to a jam, let it cool and store it in the fridge. I will keep at the very least a week, more likely two weeks thanks to all the acid in the tomatoes and the limes.

 

Caramelized Onion Jam

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil until it shimmers a bit. Add the onions and stir so they are all coated in oil. Add thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Let cook until starting to turn transparent, reduce heat a bit and keep cooking until they begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes.  Add sugar and let cook another 5 to 10 minutes until they are a deep brown color and the sugar is all melted and caramelizing. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes or so until soft and melty. Add Balsamic Vinegar and stir, continue stirring on simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the bay leaf, let cool, and place in a container (about 1 cup). It will keep a week.

• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 1 quart of thinly sliced onions, broken apart
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSP balsamic vinegarMakes 1 cup of caramelized onions.

Cauliflower, Date, & Pecan Salad

This is a slightly decadent salad with a lush sour cream dressing. It was inspired by the produce in my box of Imperfect Produce. Except for the pecans, everything else was from my produce order.

I started with a medium size head of cauliflower. I intended to make a smaller salad, but in the middle of cooking, I decided use the entire head and make one big salad. So sue me.

• 1 med. head of cauliflower, cleaned and chopped into florets (makes about 6 cups of florets)
• 10 Medjool Dates. Remove the pit, cut into strips lengthwise, then cut then down to small 1/4″ bites. Makes about 1 cup of chopped dates.
• 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts. (Pecans don’t have the bitterness of walnuts.)

I tossed them in a plastic container, put a lid on it, and shook it to distribute evenly.

For the Dressing I mixed

• 1 cup fat free sour cream
• Fresh squeezed lemon juice for 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• salt (to taste)

Add to the bowl of salad, put the lid back on and shake it until it’s distributed.

When serving a bowl of salad, chiffonade and chop a leaf of fresh mint.

Don’t add the mint to the salad because then every bite would be minty and the flavor would overwhelm it. Instead, this gives you the unctuous creamy salad and occasional explosions of mint with the creamy salad. There’s a hint of sweetness from the dates and syrup, but it’s very subtle. The cauliflower is such a sturdy earthy flavor that it easily handles the sweetness. The texture mix is lovely with the different crunchy elements of the nuts and cauliflower with the chewy dates.

This is an addictive salad and really one serving is not enough.

Nutrient	Amount	% of Daily Target or Limit
Total Calories	192	12% limit
Protein	4 g	9% target
Carbohydrate	25 g	20% target
Dietary Fiber	4 g	20% target
Total Sugars	15 g	No daily target or limit
Added Sugars	1 g	2% limit
Total Fat	10 g	No daily target or limit
Saturated Fat	1 g	5% limit
Monounsaturated Fat	6 g	No daily target or limit
Polyunsaturated Fat	3 g	No daily target or limit
Linoleic Acid	3 g	26% target
α-Linolenic Acid	0.1 g	13% target
Omega 3 – EPA	0 mg	No daily target or limit
Omega 3 – DHA	0 mg	No daily target or limit
Cholesterol	3 mg	1% limit
Minerals
Calcium	75 mg	6% target
Potassium	443 mg	9% target
Sodium	213 mg	9% limit
Copper	236 µg	26% target
Iron	1 mg	11% target
Magnesium	39 mg	12% target
Phosphorus	112 mg	16% target
Selenium	3 µg	6% target
Zinc	1 mg	13% target
Vitamins
Vitamin A	24 µg RAE	3% target
Vitamin B6	0.2 mg	13% target
Vitamin B12	0.1 µg	4% target
Vitamin C	37 mg	49% target
Vitamin D	0 µg	0% target
Vitamin E	0 mg AT	2% target
Vitamin K	13 µg	14% target
Folate	53 µg DFE	13% target
Thiamin	0.2 mg	14% target
Riboflavin	0.1 mg	13% target
Niacin	1 mg	6% target
Choline	46 mg	11% target