Photo: Chefdruck/Flickr

Even if you’re someone who, like me, enjoys delving into complicated recipes — sometimes, all you want is a grilled cheese sandwich. Sad? Tired? Overwhelmed? Here’s your prescription: Butter both sides of two slices of sturdy sandwich bread. With the burner on medium, place one slice on a hot frying pan. Cover with two slices of cheddar and the other piece of bread. Toast both sides until the cheese is melty and the bread is brown.

There. Thanks to some magic that lives in carbs and Cabot, you feel a little happier.

There are little things you can add to this mixture — things that, while they don’t improve the grilled cheese sandwich, do result in a new and interesting experience. Some successes I’ve had:

• Sweet pickle relish
• Granny smith apples & brown sugar
• Tomatoes & bacon
• Olive tapenade (especially good if you use mozzarella)

Today’s food therapy adds another, unexpected combination to this list: butternut squash and onions carmelized in a balsamic reduction. It’s more time-consuming than most grilled cheese sandwiches, yes — but picture your standard grilled cheese made gooier with squash, made sweeter with balsamic, made saltier with onions. It’s seasonal eating for when you’re tired of curried squash soup and Brussels sprouts — October junk food a million times better than candy corn.

Basically? Eat your heart out, Roxy’s.