Grilled Cheese Recipe: Balsamic Spinach and Strawberry, Sliced chicken, Walnut Grilled Cheese

Wow. The name and ingredient list is pretty long, but this grilled cheese was an amazing experimert that made my amazing roommates think I'm crazy.  The Italians would never put strawberries into a sandwich or a salad, let alone a grilled sandwich. Almost a week later, I'm still getting teased.  I don't really mind.  I know I'm not crazy. This combination was wonderful! So I made it twice.

This grilled cheese is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous colors.

I used a Walnut cheese that I randomly found in the supermarket.  It is a spreadable cheese with whole
chunks of walnut throughout. I decided to see how it is and I've decided it's really delicious. It is a mild tasting cheese, not overly pungent, with the lovely warm flavor of walnuts.  And the walnuts added a bonus crunch.
My grilled cheese also involved some strawberries for sweetness, some spinach dressed in a thick balsamic vinegar, and slices of chicken breast for protein. Again, AMAZING

Ingredients:
2 pieces of white bread (I would actually prefer whole grain, but I didn't find any at the store that day)
butter
Walnut cheese
2 or 3 strawberries sliced finely
Spinach
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
3 or 4 pieces of thinly sliced chicken or turkey breast

Spread your walnut cheese onto one side of each slice of bread.  If you can't find walnut cheese, I would use

Walnut cheese and Strawberry amazingness

a spreadable cheese like Laughing Cow or even Cream cheese because they are both mild in flavor. If you use one of these alternatives just add some fresh walnuts to your sandwich. Four or five broken into chunks should add just enough crunch and flavor to your sandwich.
Then on one slice of bread add a layer of strawberries.  You can add strawberries to both sides but I think it would make the grilled cheese a little difficult to eat because of the additional moisture.
In a separate bowl, mix your spinach, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  I use an Italian balsamic that is thick and creamy, but that can be hard to find in the states. You can use a regular vinegar (just don't overdo it or the sandwich will get soggy) or you can make your own balsamic reduction by cooking balsamic vinegar, and a touch of sugar in a pan over low heat, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.  The flavor of the balsamic will intensify and sweeten and really add a nice kick to your sandwich (if you want to go to the extra effort). Place to the side.
Put a couple of pats of butter into a pan and heat over a low flame.  When the butter has heated and begins to sizzle, place your bread dry side down into the pan.  Shake your pan every now and then so it doesn't burn. The bread should grill for a couple of minutes or until it becomes golden and crisp. It will not take very long, so do not leave it unattended! You definitely don't want the bread to burn.
Remove from the heat.
At this point, you can close your sandwich and enjoy your strawberry walnut grilled cheese or you can go all out like I did.
I added a handful of the balsamic spinach, which is a nice complement to the strawberries.

Spinach and Strawberries: This was a different day, but the colors were
too pretty not to post. I should have added even more strawberries.

Then I added the slices of chicken breast and closed my beautiful crispy grilled cheese.  The cheese was warm and melted quite nicely while the spinach added a beautiful crunch and the chicken was mild enough in
flavor that it melded nicely with everything else.  The bread got to the perfect golden color, so it was crisp and butter on the outside as a wonderful contrast to the creamy cheese and juicy strawberries.
The sandwich can get a little messy so be careful!  The walnut spread does not get sticky like some other cheeses so it won't hold the strawberries perfectly.  You may wind up with some runaways!