Flying Goat Copy: Grace Veggie Sandwich

After I had the Grace Veggie Sandwich at The Flying Goat, I wanted it again right away so I took it upon myself to recreate it. I added in some grilled chicken and the outcome was divine! To make this meal gluten free, simply make it into a salad. It's equally as delicious!

Ingredients:
2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced (I just seasoned mine with sea salt and pepper)
1 cucumber, sliced
1 onion, caramelized
1 roasted red pepper (you can buy them canned at the store)
1 roma tomato, sliced
4 oz goat cheese, sliced
balsamic vinaigrette dressing
your choice bread (I use the sandwich buns from Costco)
mixed greens (a handful for sandwiches, or enough to make a salad)

Toast bread and top with all ingredients. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and enjoy!

Spicy Thai Turkey Basil Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• 4 t olive oil, divided
• 1/2 c minced shallots (you could use onions as well)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
• 4 t minced fresh garlic
• 1 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 2 t chili garlic paste (add more or less to taste)
• 2 T fish sauce
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 T low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 t fresh ground pepper
• 1 c fresh basil leaves (thai basil is the best!)
• 2 T fresh lime juice
• 4 lime wedges
• Large lettuce leaves
• Optional: cooked rice

Directions:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots; sauté 2 minutes. Add bell pepper; sauté 1 minute. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Remove shallot mixture from pan.
2. Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add turkey; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well. Return chicken to pan over medium heat. Add chile paste; cook 1 minute. Add shallot mixture to pan. Stir in fish sauce and next 3 ingredients (through black pepper); cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove pan from heat; stir in basil and juice. Spoon turkey mixture into lettuce leaves.  You can also add rice to the lettuce leaves or leave out lettuce and serve over rice.  Also, good served in a tortilla as a wrap. Serve with lime wedges.

I quadrupled this recipe to serve to 3 families for dinner club.  My family, including kids, all loved this dish.  We will repeat for sure! The chile garlic paste and fish sauce are located in the asian section of the grocery store.  Fresh basil is a must and I highly recommend the Thai basil.  The 2 t of chili garlic paste makes this minimally spicy - kid friendly.  If it were just my husband and I eating it, we would definitely add more.  This recipe is inspired and adapted from Cooking Light, enjoy!

Baked Chicken Chimichangas/Santa Fe Chicken Salad Wraps

I LOVE chimichangas, but I don't love that they're fried so I was really excited when I found a recipe for baked chimichangas. However, most of the ingredients were pretty basic. Then I found a recipe for Santa Fe Chicken Salad wraps, and thought they sounded delicious. So, I altered the chicken salad a bit and made baked chimichangas out of them! Below are the directions for both the chimichangas and the wraps.

Ingredients: 

• 2/3 cup nonfat, plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 - 2 tablespoon minced cilantro
• 2 – 3 green onions, sliced thin
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 2/3 cup black beans
• 1/3 cup corn kernels
• Tortillas
• Olive Oil
• Diced tomatoes, sour cream, and guacamole for topping (chimichangas only)
• 
  
• If you are making wraps, you will also need:
• 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
• Salad Greens or Baby Spinach and avocado slices for garnish
• 
  
• Directions for chimichangas:
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into tortillas, fold them, and place in a greased pan. Brush chimichangas with olive oil. With oven rack on second slot from the top, bake the chimichangas for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Top with diced tomatoes, sour cream, and guacomole.
• 
  
• Directions for wraps:
• Combine all ingredients and place in tortilla. Top with mixed greens or spinach and sliced avocado.
• 
  
• I can't vouch for the wraps since I haven't actually made them, but judging from the chimichangas (which were delicious) I will definitely give them a whirl this summer!

Recipe adapted from http://www.ziplist.com/recipes/309172-Santa_Fe_Chicken_Salad_Wraps 

Blue Chicken Paninis

 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fig jam
• 1 (8-ounce) ciabatta, cut lengthwise
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 8 ounces sliced cooked chicken breast
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups arugula leaves (I used mixed baby greens)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 

Preparation:

1. Spread jam over cut side of top half of bread. Combine cheese and butter in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Spread cheese mixture over cut side of bottom half of bread. Arrange chicken evenly over cheese mixture; sprinkle with pepper. Place top half of bread, jam side down, over chicken.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add sandwich to pan. Place a heavy cast-iron skillet on sandwich; cook 5 minutes or until both sides are browned, turning once.
3. Place arugula in a bowl. Drizzle juice over arugula; toss gently. Remove top bread half from sandwich. Arrange arugula mixture over chicken. Replace top bread half. Cut sandwich into 4 equal portions.

Kate Washington, Cooking Light

Italian Pulled Chicken and Kale Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 batch store bought or homemade tomato sauce (I made Tim's Famous Spaghetti Sauce)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 c chopped kale
• whole wheat buns
• shredded or sliced mozzarella cheese

Directions

• Boil chicken breasts. When they are done, shred them with 2 forks or in your Kitchen Aid mixer.
• While you are boiling the breasts, bring the tomato sauce to a simmer.
• Add in kale and cook over med-high heat until it boils. Lower to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
• Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Layout buns and top with chicken mixture and mozzarella. Place under broiler until the cheese melts, about 3-4 min.

Recipe from http://greenlitebites.com/

I served this meal with homemade kale chips. Simply pull kale leaves apart, being sure not to include the spine. Mix with olive oil, being sure all pieces are well bathed in it. Season with sea salt to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, flip all pieces, and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool. I actually really liked these chips, but be aware that a full head of kale only yields about 1 sandwich-sized bag of chips!

Chicken Fajita Melts

 

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of french bread (I used 6 wheat bolillo rolls)
• 2 grilled chicken breasts, cut into slices (you can also buy pre-cooked grilled chicken slices!)
• 1 teaspoon fajita seasoning (I have also used taco seasoning and it works great)
• 1/2 green pepper, sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced (you could also use a bag of frozen peppers and onions)
• 1/3 cup salsa (more or less depending on how much you like)
• 4 slices of your favorite cheese (I like cheddar or pepperjack)
• 1 large avocado (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice the bread open lengthwise so you have two long pieces.
2. Season the chicken breasts with the fajita seasoning (or taco seasoning) and grill on both sides until cooked through.  Let cool slightly, then slice into thin strips. (If you are using pre-cooked chicken strips, just warm them up. You don't even need to season them with fajita seasoning if you don't want to)
3. Saute the peppers and onions with some fajita seasoning for about 3-5 minutes, or until the water has cooked off.
4. To assemble, spread the salsa on the bottom of the bread. Add the grilled chicken slices, then the sauteed peppers and onion, then the cheese slice.
5. Put under the broiler to melt the cheese.
6. Cut bread into slices and serve (topped with fresh avocado).

Slightly adapted from sixsistersstuff.com

These were really easy and delicious!

Grilled Chicken BLT

Ingredients: 

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 4 Kaiser or other crusty rolls, toasted
• 8 slices cooked bacon (you can also use turkey bacon)
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 4 lettuce leaves 
• 4 slices of cheese (our favorite is pepperjack)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle chicken with Lawry's seasoning salt.
2. Mix mayonnaise and about 1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt in small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 
3. Grill chicken over medium heat 6 to 7 minutes per side or until cooked through. 
4. Spread mayonnaise mixture evenly on rolls. Top with chicken, bacon, tomato, lettuce, and cheese. 

For variety, we ate these without the mayo and substituted Costco's jalapeno greek yogurt spread/dip.  That spread, along with pepperjack cheese definitely had a bit of a kick, but it was awesome!  Emma even loved it! If you have big chicken breasts, you might consider slicing the chicken and putting on a few pieces as opposed to putting a whole breast on each bun.

Balsamic-Glazed Smoky Chicken Caprese Sandwiches

 Original recipe from Rachaelray.com


Ingredients:

• 8 slices ripe tomato
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (1/3 palmful)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 ounces each), cut filet style
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning, such as Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 8 1/4-inch-thick slices smoked mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup baby arugula or spinach (what I used)
• 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, torn or shredded
• 4 ciabatta rolls, split
• *homemade lemon-garlic aioli
• **store-bought thick cut potato chips, sea salt or olive oil flavored

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 425˚F.  Pre-heat your grill to medium-high.

Combine the balsamic vinegar, EVOO, garlic, rosemary, oregano and red pepper flakes in large plastic food storage bag or shallow dish. Set the chicken into the marinade and let stand for 20 minutes, or several hours.  Please note: I also marinated the sliced tomatoes in the same marinade recipe, but in a bowl.  Both the chicken and tomatoes were marinated overnight before I cooked them.
Arrange the tomatoes on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.
Heat your grill to medium-high. Shake off the excess marinade from the chicken and place the chicken on the grill. Season with the Montreal steak seasoning blend. Grill the chicken cutlets for 8-10 minutes on each side.

Spread the bottom half of the ciabatta roll with the aioli.  Combine the spinach or arugula and basil and pile onto the roll bottoms. Top the greens with a piece of chicken, two pieces of cheese and a couple of oven-roasted tomatoes.  Serve with gourmet potato chips of your choice.


Additionally: The aioli recipe is one that I made up and is on another recipe page.

Caribbean Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

• 1 raw picnic pork/ham (approx 5 lbs.)
• 1T or more white wine vinegar
• 1T fresh ground blk pepper
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 T fresh oregano chopped (don't skimp on the fresh stuff here)
• 1 bay leaf finely crumbled
• 1 t cumin
• 1 T olive oil

Directions:

1. Soak picnic pork for at least one hour submerged in water (takes some of the salt out)
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
3. Combine all ingredients except for vinegar in a small bowl to make paste
4. Make shallow (1/2" or so) slits on the surface of the pork
5. Rub vinegar all over the surface of the pork (I use my hands for this)
6. Rub paste all over ham shoving it into the slits
7. Roll ham in aluminum foil (roughly 4-5 layers of foil)
8. Stick ham in a roasting pan
9. Cook 12-18 hours
10. Let set 30 minutes
11. Unwrap ham and it will literally fall apart.  Shred with forks or tongs and throw away clumps of fat and bone.

You can serve this as a main dish by itself (try it topped with mango or pineapple salsa), in a bun with BBQ sauce, or as the meat for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and/or tostadas.  This week I served it with hard taco shells, cheese, shredded cabbage, mango salsa and fresh avocado... delicious! Thanks to Phaedra for sharing this recipe with me.

Chicken Apple Quesadillas

Ingredients

• 4 flour tortillas (approximately 8-inches wide)
• 1 cup cooked, shredded or chopped, chicken meat (I used rotisserie chicken meat)
• 1/4 lb cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, sliced or grated
• 1 apple, sliced (I like Fuji or Jazz apples - something crisp)
• 1/4 cup mango chutney OR salsa
• Optional: spinach

Directions

1 Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Place one tortilla in the skillet. Flip it a couple of times with a spatula, then let it sit in the pan heating up until air pockets form and parts of the tortilla begin to puff up. Flip it again.



2 Place cheese slices on half of the tortilla, at least 1/2-inch from the edge of the tortilla. Add chicken pieces on top of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over like an omelette, and press down on the folded tortilla with the spatula. Lower the heat to medium. At this point, if you have enough room in your skillet, you can add a second tortilla to the pan to begin to heat it up.



3 When the cheese inside the quesadilla has melted, remove the quesadilla to a cutting board. Open it wide and layer on apple slices, salsa or chutney, and optional spinach. Fold the tortilla back again, and cut it into 3 triangles, as if you were cutting a pie. (You don't have to cut the quesadilla into triangles, it just makes it easier for kids to eat.)

4 Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

I got this recipe idea from simplyrecipes.com and modified it just a bit.  I think the chutney tastes amazing with it and I really like the spinach addition as well. (Easy to leave out if your kids don't dig it) My favorite tortillas in the world are the homemade wheat tortillas from De Leon Mexican Market (on Francis and Division for you Spokanites). Dinner prepped and on the table in 10 minutes.  LOVE!

Philly CheeseSteak/French Dip Sandwiches

 

Ingredients

• 1 pkg sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 sweet onion sliced thin
• 1 green pepper sliced thin
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef consomme
• 1 cup water
• 1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions

1. Saute onions for 10 minutes in a small amount of butter or olive oil.  Then add in mushrooms and green pepper for an additional 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat beef consomme and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to make a rich beef broth. Place the roast beef in the broth and warm for 3 minutes.
3. Slice hoagie rolls and place face up under the broiler until lightly toasted.  
4. Arrange the meat and veggies on the hoagie rolls and top each roll with 2 slices of provolone. 
5. Turn the temperature down or lower rack and broil sandwiches just until the cheese just begins to melt. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the warm broth for dipping. Serves 4.

 

I recently found out that I am anemic so was looking for a beef recipe to add a little iron into my diet.  Since Natalie's husband doesn't eat beef, I gave them deli turkey instead of the roast beef (and obviously no dipping sauce) which made the meal more like a turkey "cheesesteak".  Emma really loved her sandwich (no veggies), and Roger ate two huge sandwiches.  I served these with sweet potato fries (nothing fancy, just from the freezer section in the grocery store).  Easy and hearty!

Leftovers? Make Paninis!

Sometimes we don't have big enough appetites or enough meals in a day to eat up all of the delicious food from dinner club.  Bummer?  No way!  We like to invite over friends to help us enjoy the extras and MAKE PANINIS!

We had several chicken breasts prepared two different ways: Hawaiian chicken and Roast chicken with fennel seed and sauteed bell peppers/onions.  In the refrigerator we found a variety of sliced and crumbled cheeses, teriyaki sauce, pineapple slices, tomatoes, and Italian dressing.  We'd purchased freshly sliced sour dough bread and were ready to roll out the panini grill.  A couple of us enjoyed a Hawaiian style panini with chicken breast, grilled pineapple (right on the panini press:), teriyaki sauce, colby/jack cheese and sliced tomato.  I made my sandwich with roast fennel chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, peppers, onions and sliced tomatoes.  This is an easy and tasty way to enjoy leftovers!

Cranberry Chutney Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients

• Chicken meat pulled off of one rotisserie chicken
• Cranberry chutney - 1 jar
• 8 Slices sharp cheddar cheese
• 8 fresh hoagie or 12 bolillo rolls
• 2 Fuji apples - thinly sliced
• Baby romaine lettuce

Directions

1. Slice open rolls in half lengthwise.  On one side smother the cranberry chutney topped with the chicken.  On the other side place thin apple slices and top with cheddar cheese.
2. Place under the broiler until the cheese bubbles.
3. Add romaine lettuce just before serving.

This recipe has become a family favorite.  It was adapted from a sandwich I ate at Phaedra Cote's house which had mango chutney and fresh mozzarella (also delicious and adds great variety).  It's super quick and easy, and well received!  I HIGHLY recommend the chutney - it's really what makes the sandwich, but in a pinch you can also use canned/fresh cranberry sauce.  Enjoy!

BLAT Wraps

Ingredients

• 8-10 slices turkey bacon (I think the turkey bacon at Costco is by far the best!)
• 4 (10 inch) flour tortillas (my favorite are wheat tortillas from De Leon Foods)
• 4 tablespoons Ranch-style salad dressing
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 4 T shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, or until crisp. Chop and set aside. 
2. Combine turkey bacon, avocado, tomato, and ranch in a bowl and stir gently coating with the Ranch dressing.
3. Warm tortillas in microwave oven for 30 to 45 seconds, or until soft. Layer the lettuce and the bacon/tomato/avocado/ranch mixture, topping with optional cheese.  Roll the tortilla around the ingredients and serve immediately. 

If you don't plan on serving right away, keep the ingredients separate.  You could also layer each item as well, serving more like a burrito (shown in photo), but we like the pre-mixed version better.


This recipe is super fast and easy, which is one of the reasons I chose to make it coming off a swim meet weekend and going into a crazy holiday week.  It doesn't take much prep time at all and is a sure crowd pleaser.  My hubby and daughter are big fans - always cleaning their plates.  This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com.

Hot Pesto, Mozzarella, Chicken Sandwiches

Please excuse the ghetto paper plate!  I forgot to take a picture of my sandwich at dinner last night, so I had to settle for a remake when I ate my leftover sandwich at lunch today.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup pesto sauce (homemade or premade)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4  teaspoon  pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh or dried parsley
• 1  teaspoon  olive oil
• 4  kaiser rolls
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach
• 4 pieces of sliced part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1  large tomato, thinly sliced

Preparation

Combine pesto and mayonnaise in a small bowl, stirring to blend.  Refridgerate.
Slice chicken breasts in half width-wise.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley, and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan, and let cool slightly.
Preheat broiler.
Cut kaiser rolls in half horizontally. Place rolls, 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 evenly over bottom half. Top chicken with sliced mozzarella cheese. Place bottom half on baking sheet, and broil 2-3 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven and arrange spinach and tomato over cheese, and cover with top half of bread. Eat and enjoy!  I served mine at dinner with baked, lightly salted, sweet potato fries.