Veggie Tuna Cheddar Melt - Drippy Gooey Style

Veggie prep starts here.

Lots of ingredients today... Some to use up, some to yummy it up!

From the fridge:

• leftover cream gravy
• a partial head of bok choy
• sliced dill pickles
• basic veggies: onion carrot celery
• mayo
• sour cream
• dijon mustard

From the pantry:

• 1 6oz can of tuna in water
• baguette
• dry dill weed
• fresh ground pepper
• sea salt

From the freezer:

• a bag of shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream gravy, fresh ground pepper, and dill weed.

Slice baguette horizontally. Hollow our the thicker top rounded half and save that bread for later to toast for croutons or bread crumbs. Spread each half with cream gravy. Season each half with fresh ground pepper and dried dill weed.

Separate green leaves from bok choy and reserve until later. Chop finely, the stalks and rest of veggies. (I didn't give amounts for the veggies because this is a "use it up" recipe so eyeball it according to what you have available.) I also take the center leaves of the celery and add them to the bok choy leaves.

To the chopped veggies, add drained canned tuna and break up with a fork. Add a spoonful each mayo and sour cream, followed with a healthy squirt of dijon mustard. Add fresh ground pepper to taste and a tiny bit of salt. (There's more saltiness to come, so careful.) Mix together.

The prep for the his and hers.

To the hollowed out side of baguette, fill with the tuna salad. To the flat side of baguette, sprinkle on the cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The bread will come out crispy on the outside but still have some fresh give to the inside.

Nut wanted his open face with extra cheese.

Now here's where it get's versatile for different family member tastes. I wanted my half in the form of a sandwich which meant I would add a small salad of the bok choy and celery leaves plus some sliced dill pickles. Nut wanted his opened faced just as it came out of the oven. This is the perfect meal to provide options. Idea: make the sandwich to the point where it comes out of the oven. Cut each side o the baguette in matching 2in sections and let family members dress their sandwiches to their tastes. Additional garnishes could include radishes, green onions, or olives. You could have a tuna melt bar! This is also a very filling sandwich, so I would suggest some cut veggies as a side... something light.

I had to put most of those chips back!

Note: When Nut had his half open face, he didn't end up with a messy plate. The bread captured all the drippies. Although delicious, with my version, I ended up with a very messy plate. Tuckie was very happy with what we put down for him to lick! An answer to the drippy mess factor might be to go lighter on the condiments going into the salad. I also think I over filled them a bit so again, go according to your taste.

Taste tester results: I had lots of yummy noises from Nut and tail wagging licks from Tuckie. That's a positive to keep trying to evolve this recipe. One thing I noticed is that Nut really liked his open half of bread that only had the cream gravy and cheddar cheese on it. The biggest yummy noises came from that!