This rich and decadent grilled cheese sandwich is guaranteed to satisfy. (Stephen Hui)

To celebrate our son turning six months old, we had a little half-birthday party for which I made a couple kinds of “fancy pants” grilled cheese sandwiches. This is one of the sandwiches I created.

The bread I used is made by a local bakery called Terra Breads, and it’s likely difficult to get outside of Vancouver. If you can’t find a rustic-style bread with dried fruit, a good-quality sourdough bread will work just as well. And if you can’t find fig jam, try using a pear or apricot jam instead.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

Ingredients

Cheese is just one of the ingredients in this sandwich. (Stephen Hui)

• 1 loaf Terra Breads Fig & Anise Bread, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 cup fresh arugula, washed and dried
• 4 tbsp fig jam (I used Bonne Maman)
• 1/2 package of Daiya Jack-style cheese wedge, sliced into 8 thin slices
• 2 tbsp margarine

Directions

Now we’re ready to cook. (Stephen Hui)

1. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
2. Spread 1/2 tbsp margarine on each slice of bread. Turning the buttered sides of the bread face down on a cutting board, spread 1 tbsp of fig jam on each of the unbuttered sides of the bread. On top of the jam, lay two slices of the cheese on each slice of bread.
3. Divide the arugula in half, placing 1/2 cup on one slice of bread and the remaining 1/2 cup on another slice of bread. Take the two remaining slices of bread without the arugula and turn them over, cheese-side down over the greens.
4. Working with one sandwich at a time, place each sandwich in the preheated skillet and fry the bread until it is a deep golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Flip the sandwich over and fry another 4-5 minutes. Repeat with the second sandwich, placing finished sandwiches on your cutting board.
5. Serve immediately while still warm and gooey.

Let’s eat! (Stephen Hui)

Note: Sometimes these sandwiches can fall apart if you cut them in half, as the arugula makes things a bit slippery. If you want to cut them in half, try using toothpicks to secure the halves of your sandwich while carefully slicing between the toothpicks with a sharp bread knife.