How The Soul Food Croque Monsieur Was Born

Originally, it was going to be an easy weeknight dinner: ham and cheese sandwiches with a side of kale to keep it healthy.

But when I got to the grocery store just before closing, they were sold out of kale. But they had plenty of gorgeous-looking mustard greens. Now, I haven't cooked mustard greens for probably 12 years, and when I last did them, I'm sure I braised the life out of them for hours, like a thousand Southern cooks have done for generations. Although many people eat their greens this way, I have grown to prefer a little "tooth" or texture in my vegetables. Plus I like the earthy flavor to come through, and I like to feel like I've cooked them so lightly that the wonderful powerhouse vitamins present in greens do not have a chance to dissolve and float away in the cooking liquid. So generally, I just steam or wilt my greens, or sometimes give them a flash in the saute pan with some garlic and oil. But everything is done quickly and the greens stay a lovely bright green and don't fade to that sad, army fatigues hue that can make anyone lose their appetite for vegetables.

There I was in the kitchen with my ham, cheese, and bread ready to go. It was time to wilt my mustard greens. Except you can't just lightly wilt mustard greens. They are too pungent. They need to be mellowed...like by braising all day in the Southern soul food tradition with the mollifying presence of a ham hock. But I jumped into this without thinking it through and there was no time for an all-day braise. All I could do was just steam those greens a bit more and then maybe...hmmm...let's see.... I could further wilt them in a cheese-infused white sauce! That kind of sauce would have that "mellowing" quality I was after. The fat and protein in the cheese would take the edge off of the sharp flavor of those still bright and pungent greens.

This white sauce, laced with mellow, nutty Gruyere, got me thinking as I whisked.... Doesn't the decadent French version of a ham and cheese sandwich, or Croque Monsieur, come doused in such a sauce? Hmmm...so why not fill this sandwich with the saucy mustard greens and make sure the whole thing is served hot, toasty, and crisp on the outside with all of this meltaway texture on the inside, just like a sort of overstuffed, soul food version of the Croque Monsieur??

So that's exactly what I did. And I made sure to have a side of jerked BBQ sauce for dipping.

The gentle flavor of the ham, with the creaminess of the cheese and sauce really did rein in the mustard greens. But those greens gave wonderful texture and earthiness to the sandwich and really helped balance it...greens have powerful phytonutrients that actually help bind cholesterol. The tangy hot sauce was the perfect acidic note to complete the medley of flavors.

WOW.

Despite any positive virtues bestowed on the sandwich by those healthful greens, the Soul Food Croque Monsieur tasted positively sinful. So much so that I'm going to hit the gym tomorrow on general principle!