Wow! This is such a fun sandwich. This is really just a fancy pants grilled cheese, but I just couldn’t bring myself to put the word “grilled” in the name of the sandwich twice.

April 8, 2019 Updated April 25, 2021 Jump to Recipe
Wow! This is such a fun sandwich. This is really just a fancy pants grilled cheese, but I just couldn’t bring myself to put the word “grilled” in the name of the sandwich twice.
Wow! This is such a fun sandwich. This is really just a fancy pants grilled cheese, but I just couldn’t bring myself to put the word “grilled” in the name of the sandwich twice.
This addictive sandwich was inspired by our trip to Carmel last week for Doris Day’s birthday celebration. We went to some really amazing restaurants and were totally spoiled! At one of them, Andrew got this beautiful sandwich, full of layers of fresh veggies, on a homemade croissant, with this delectable pesto-like spread. Luckily, he let me have a bite, and it was truly a fantastic sandwich! What stood out to me the most though, was the spread! It was so so good! It was like pesto, but it wasn’t pesto…what was it???!
I decided to try my hand at doing my own spin on this spread at home, and came up with this incredibly simple recipe for basil mayonnaise, or basil Vegenaise. I have never been a mayonnaise lover myself, but I discovered Vegenaise during my vegan days, and fell in love! It is a staple in our home! Seriously, if you are like me and never really took to mayonnaise for one reason or another, give Vegenaise a try! It provides wonderful taste and smoothness to sandwiches, like mayonnaise, but it isn’t mayonnaise! Vegenaise can be found at just about any grocery store these days. I usually get it a Ralph’s (Kroger brand stores), Winco, or Sprouts. (Trader Joe’s has a knock off, “Vegan Spread and Dressing,” in their condiments aisle. It is ok, definitely a worthy substitute if you can’t find Vegenaise, but also definitely not as good!) Vegenaise is generally next to all of the vegetarian/vegan meat and cheese substitutes at the grocery store.
About the grilled avocado here: it is to die for! I love grilling avocado for a few reasons. For starters, grilling somehow makes that lovely avocado taste a little nuttier and sweeter. Also, making a crispy, grilled edge on an avocado slice makes biting into the smooth, creamy center all the more rewarding! And not to be forgotten, grilling avocados actually works better if the avocado is slightly under-ripe! So good news, you don’t have to keep those avocados sitting on your counter for a week, impatiently waiting for them to get to the perfect softness! Grill your avocados so you can enjoy them now!!!!!! (:
Also, I say “grilled” avocado, but if you don’t have a grill pan, you can TOTALLY use a regular old frying pan. Whatever you’ve got will work!
The recipe below is for one sandwich, but you could definitely get 3-4 sandwiches out of the basil spread recipe, and 3-4 sandwiches out of one grilled avocado if you use about 3 avocado slices per sandwich. So, just grate more cheese, slice more tomato, get some more bread, and you can make yourself a few more sandwiches!