You may think the star of this show is the chicken, but I say nay nay. The whole reason I came up with this recipe was for the tomatoes. In the summer, we're seemingly overrun with tomatoes, lettuce, and zucchini. I'm always trying to come up with creative ways to use them all up, without making yet another salad or frittata. This sandwich seemed like the perfect light-ish meal to highlight tomatoes but still be able to enjoy something different and fun.
This sandwich is super easy to deconstruct for kiddos, if they're like mine and refuse to eat meals the way I serve them. I don't know why, but they want everything separated out in a bowl and for some unknown reason I give in every time. Actually, I've just started serving their food that way in the first place, so, yeah -- they have totally won. Oh well, I'm not going to complain too much about them eating a bowl of tomatoes, chicken, and salad. Maybe you throw some peanut butter on the bread. Maybe you cut the chicken into strips and serve it with ketchup instead of aioli. Maybe you add ranch to the lettuce. I'm just saying... maybe you would do something like that. I certainly would not give into my kids' demands in such a way...
Crispy Chicken
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast per person
Panko bread crumbs (or crushed up rice chex for gluten free)
All-purpose flour (or almond flour for gluten free)
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Butterfly the chicken breast by running your knife sideways through the fat part of the breast. Stop before slicing the breast all the way in half, and open it up to lay flat, like a book. Cover the chicken with a piece of plastic wrap, and then pound the chicken breast flat using a meat pounder or rolling pin. The goal is to get the chicken to be one flat piece of even thickness, about 1/4" thick. Then cut each flattened breast in half, so they'll fit nicely on the sandwiches. Follow this process with each piece of chicken.
2. Prepare a breading station by placing three shallow bowls in a line on your countertop. In the first, add the flour and season with salt and pepper.
In the second bowl, add the eggs and whisk them together.
In the third bowl, add the Panko bread crumbs, and season those with salt and pepper.
3. With each piece of chicken, bread by coating evenly in the flour, then dunking in the egg, then finally pressing it into the bread crumbs to form a crunchy crust.
4. Heat about an inch of canola oil over medium-high heat in a large cast iron skillet. Cook the chicken in the oil, working in batches so as to not crowd the pan. Cook the chicken on the first side until well-browned. Flip, and cook until the other side matches. transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Spicy Lemon Aioli
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Mayonaise
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
5 drops (or more!) of your favorite hot sauce (I use Tabasco, like a good Southerner)
Directions:
Mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl.
Build the Sandwich
Ingredients:
Thin buns
Salad greens
Cilantro
Red onion, thinly sliced
Fresh sliced tomato
Directions:
1. Use a butter knife to spread it onto both of the sandwich buns.
2. Layer salad greens, red onion, cilantro, two pieces of crispy chicken, and tomatoes onto a thin bun. Top with the other bun.
3. Enjoy!
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