In celebration of soup season, we've partnered with Progresso to share recipes that'll keep you (and your bowlful) warm during the winter months.
Since I was in middle school, Tuesdays have been ingrained in my brain as grilled cheese and tomato soup day, thanks to my summer camp and its weekly celebration of American cheese and glorified tomato juice.
On Tuesdays at lunch time, no matter how hot it was outside or how strict we were being about our preteen “diets” in advance of the 4th of July dance, it was universally understood that we would take no prisoners as we ravaged through platters of buttery, Wonderbread-ed grilled cheese triangles dunked in styrofoam bowls of tomato soup. It’d all get washed down with ice-cold, bright blue punch—and then we’d roll ourselves Violet Beauregarde-style back to our bunks for an hour of digesting and writing letters home on Hello Kitty stationary.
It was the life.
Ah, I love a good camp memory—and you know I’ll take any chance to relive it. But now, 15 years later, since blue punch has been replaced by kombucha (ok fine, and wine) and Hello Kitty stationary has been replaced by emails littered with emojis, I’ve updated my grilled cheese game. It might not have the nostalgia of butter and American cheese, but it has the nuttiness of seedy wheat bread, the tanginess of labneh and za’atar, and the sharpness of white Cheddar and Parmesan. Which is to say that it’s fancy enough to eat as a grownup and good enough to write home about—and obviously it’s not complete without a little swim in hearty tomato soup.
You can use homemade or store-bought labneh here, or in a pinch you could also sub in plain, full-fat greek yogurt. Neither melts down like Cheddar or Parmesan, but you get a nice oozy center in your toasty grilled cheese.
- Olive oil
- 4 thick slices seedy wheat bread
- 2 ounces shaved white Cheddar
- 2 ounces shaved Parmesan
- 1/4 cup labneh or plain full-fat Greek yogurt
- Za'atar
- Sumac
- Tomato soup, for serving
We've partnered with Progresso to share new recipes—like grilled cheese, scones, and braised endive—to make when soup's on your menu. Learn more about Progresso's soups here.
