Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich

I wanted to use some of the fresh ingredients from Sunday's trip to the Farmer's Market so this evening I went onto cookinglight.com, typed in "chicken+pesto" and came up with this five star beauty.

Look at those pretty tomatoes, would ya? The recipe suggested pairing this sandwich with orange slices and baked chips. I had some oranges on hand, so I cut one up and Dustin quickly grabbed it up for a pre-dinner snack. We had some organic long board tortilla chips from Trader Joes and fresh chopped salsa, so I paired that instead of the baked chips. A fresh, filling and easy breezy summer dinner.

Here is the recipe with a few of my adaptations.

MOZZARELLA CHICKEN SANDWICH

Ingredients
1/4 cup (about 2 ounces) sun-dried tomato pesto (such as Classico) (I used the farmer's market pesto)
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 (8-ounce) loaf ciabatta (I used challah rolls from TJ's. Dustin loved it.)
12 large basil leaves (I didn't have that many on hand.. I've been picking my basil plant dry.. but a few basil leaves do the job just fine.)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sliced bottled roasted red bell peppers (omitted)
1 large tomato, thinly sliced

Preparation
Combine pesto and mayonnaise in a small bowl, stirring to blend.

Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken to cutting board, and cool slightly. Cut chicken lengthwise into thin slices.

Preheat broiler. (Instead of baking the apartment, I used the toaster oven and put it on broiler. Did just the trick and I was able to keep my eye on it better.)

Cut ciabatta in half horizontally. Place bread, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Spread pesto mixture evenly over cut sides of bread. Arrange the chicken slices evenly over bottom half. Top chicken evenly with basil leaves, and sprinkle cheese over top. Place bottom half on baking sheet, and broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Arrange bell pepper and tomato over cheese, and cover with top half of bread. Cut into 4 equal pieces.

By cooking it in the toaster oven, I got a 'tuna melt' vibe but instead of tuna and cheddar it was chicken and mozzarella. Try it. Quick, easy and tasty.

Happy Summer Eatin'!

And PS - Happy July!

Pools, fireworks and BBQ's.

Why can't every month be July??