Look. I feel like I’ve said it a million times. Good food does not have to be complicated. The following is a supremely simple – and very tasty – recipe for a grilled chicken sandwich. By using common ingredients with bold, complimentary flavors, this recipe leads you through the assembly of a delicious dinner that may just become a household standard.
Plus if you make it, you’ll be able to take a sweet sandwich-layer picture, like this one:
Ingredients (for 2)
- 2 chicken breasts – butterflied
- 1-2 tablespoons of dried Italian seasoning (the store-bought stuff)
- 1 red bell pepper – cut in three flat(ish) sections
- 6 strips of bacon (4 for the sandwiches and two for grill-snacking)
- 4 tablespoons of soft, mild goat cheese
- a handful of baby spinach leaves
- 2 whole wheat hamburger buns
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- a ziploc bag
Instructions:
Let’s start simple: preheat the grill over medium-high heat. Clean the grates. Spray them with some grill spray. You know… get the grill ready.
Butterfly the chicken, which is a fancy way of saying to cut it in half the most awkward way possible. Here’s a nifty link that show’s you how. Note: you really only need to do step 1 and 2; step 3 just get’s messy.
Season the cut chicken breasts with a pinch of salt and pepper, and the dried Italian seasoning mixture.
Go check the grill. If it’s hot, prepare the pepper slices with a splash of oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. A splash and a dash. No big deal.
Place the pepper slices skin-side down on the grill. The idea is to char the skin side, so give them 4-5 minutes on the hot grill, flip them over to make sure they’re not burning, and then flip them back over the let the skin fully blister. When it does, remove the pepper slices from the hot grill, place them in the ziploc bag, and seal it. The trapped heat and moisture will steam the peppers, and eventually allow you to easily peel them.
Step one down!
Now grill the bacon. This is a fairly simple process, but you’ll need to be careful of the greasy flare-ups from the drippings. Here’s my method:
- Reduce the heat on one burner to medium (or slightly below) and line the bacon over it.
- Leave it there until it is cooked on that first side (it’ll start to brown, like… bacon).
- Flipping the bacon will spill the grease, and flare, so be careful.
- If you have a top rack on the grill, move the bacon to the top rack when you flip it. It will be easier to monitor the cook, and provides the added benefit of dripping fatty goodness onto whatever is below it… like chicken.
Pause for bacon pics:
Speaking of chicken, let’s throw that on.
Place the butterflied and seasoned breasts onto the mid-high portion of the grill (under the bacon, if possible, like the picture above).
The breasts will only take 4-5 minutes per side, so make sure to watch them closely, but only flip them once.
When the chicken is nearly finished (the bacon should already be done), toast the buns on the top rack, or another open section of the grill.
Assemble the sandwiches as so:
- Spread goat cheese on the inside of both the top and bottom halves of the buns.
- Peel a slice of pepper (remember? the ones in the ziploc bag!) and place the peeled slice on the bottom bun.
- Lay down two strips of bacon.
- Load on as much chicken as you want.
- Top it off with a few leaves of spinach… you know, for health.
Consume and enjoy!
More sandwich pics:
Love, Food & Beer 