Grilled cheese- simple bread, butter, and American cheese- is an easy meal that has been a long time favorite in the U.S. So loved, in fact, that some restaurants, like The Pop Shop in Collingswood, New Jersey, created over thirty varieties of the meal to satisfy all types of customers. Their inspiring dedication to new dishes has sparked some favorite new grilled cheese varieties that consumers are trying at home.

One way to spice up these dishes is to add your favorite type of meat. From pepperoni to turkey, or even the spicy buffalo chicken adds a unique flavor to the original melted cheese. For example, the Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese adds barbequed pulled pork, caramelized onions, and sharp cheddar on Texas toast.

The Bavaria, a feature of the Grilled Cheese Academy, places Wisconsin Edam cheese, beer-fried knackwurst, potatoes, and sauerkraut, complete with rye bread. The Pizza Grilled Cheese and the Chicken Parmesan Grilled Cheese both add the melted cheese spin to classic dinner dishes.

If you prefer vegetables or fruits, try adding greens instead of (or in addition to!) the meats. This makes a healthier meal with more flavor than the traditional recipe. The Harvest Grilled Cheese, from The Grilled Cheese Truck, involves sautéed leeks, butternut squash, and agave syrups on traditional American cheese.

Martha Stewart’s Grilled Cheese and Apple Sandwich adds layers of apples to cheddar cheese for a sweet taste and an easy serving of fruit. The Tarragon Vegetable Grilled Cheese, created by Karen Kadlec on myrecipes.com, includes zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and chopped tarragon with sharp cheddar and jack cheese on sourdough bread.

Creating a variation of grilled cheese may also just be as simple as changing the bread or the cheese. Using Swiss Cheese gives the grilled cheese a milder taste and a healthier calorie content. The classic cheddar cheese served on a fresh baked roll, something like a French bread pizza, can be much more filling than white bread. Whole grain bread or reduced calorie bread are some healthier options, too.

The ultimate favorite I have found so far comes from the Grilled Cheese Academy. The Cheshire features Edam cheese and Cheddar cheese, bacon, avocadoes, tomatoes, lettuce, and an over-easy egg. Combine all of these variations: meat, cheese, vegetables or fruit, and bread, to make your own new and delightful grilled cheese sandwiches!

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The French supermarket chain Carrefour and the American fast-food chain McDonald’s topped the list of offenders made by of the Chinese central television (CCTV) on the anniversary of World Consumer Rights Day on March 15.

A team from the CCTV went to a McDonald’s restaurant in Sanlitun, a neighborhood of Beijing, and took photos with a hidden camera; they documented the use of stiffen cheese in burgers, hours after removing the sanitary plastic cover from it. The TV journalists also noted that the restaurant staff had been manipulating the expiration dates of the deserts sold by this restaurant.

When they asked a staff member about these practices, without the person knowing that they were being recorded, they were told that the practices would increase profits and bonuses for the staff.

McDonald’s of China came with an immediate response on its blog, saying it attaches great importance to these violations. The company added that they will strengthen the management and focus on running the business according to the necessary criteria in order to maintain good consumer reputation and clean food and promised to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

China has experienced several food scandals in recent months, ranging from using recycled cooking oils to fruits being painted to look fresher, mushrooms found to be radiated and tainted wine. The number of McDonald’s restaurants in China has reached more than 1400 with 200 of these opening just last year, according to the official website of the company. China is the third largest market for the fast food chain, which provides employment for more than 70.000 people.

The French hypermarket chain Carrefour has 200 stores in China, which were targeted last year. After it misled customers through a number of deceptive offers, the Chinese TV station were careful to include them in their report. 

In the Zhengzhou branch, regular chicken was sold as a free-range chicken at double the price, according to the TV channel. Carrefour has opened an investigation immediately, and promised severe punishment to those responsible in order to protect the rights of the consumers, according to their official Sina Weibo micro-blog, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

After three days, the authorities in Zhengzhou temporally shut down the store as per a report by China’s national English-language newspaper for North American readers, China Daily USA. In 2011, Carrefour was accused by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for misleading pricing tags.

The discovery of the misguided pricing was made after an undercover investigation carried out by NDRC personnel in five branches of the French hypermarket chain in a handful of cities.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/asmythie/

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