Open-Faced Apple Gruyere Melts

This is more of a tasty idea than a recipe. It was born out of my coming down with a cold, combined with the glorious McIntosh apples we have in our fridge thanks to a trip to Oak Glen this past weekend. The cold comes in because I needed some soup for dinner tonight, and I wasn't up to making it for myself. My husband gallantly went out to pick up Panera's low fat chicken noodle (yum), and I made this lovely little open-faced sandwich with the whole grain baguette half that came with my soup.

The general idea is to take wonderfully crusty bread, cut it in half, and decorate the innards with delicious tart apples and nutty cheese. The combination here just happens to work particularly well, but I'm confident that your favorite cheese and apple would substitute just fine. (If you haven't tried Gruyere with apples, though, I strongly encourage you to do so).

Open-Faced Apple Gruyere Melts
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

6 inch whole grain baguette, halved length-wise and cross-wise
1 medium sized McIntosh apple, cored and cut into thin slices
2 ounces Gruyere cheese, very thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat toaster oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2. Top the baguette halves with a thin layer of cheese, followed by the apple slices, followed by the remaining cheese. Place on the baking sheet and cook until cheese is melted, starting to bubble and brown, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!