There's nothing better than eating something with fresh ingredients.
The flavour, the texture, the colours; all of these things are amplified when your ingredients are fresh. It's the difference between a bland meal, and an exciting one.
Which is why, when I go to make a sandwich, I pick the freshest ingredients possible.
I look at sandwiches the same way that I look at salads, which is that they come in one of two ways: boring, or AH-MA-ZING! There is nothing worse than a boring sandwich, in the same way that when you eat an incredible sandwich you want to share it with the world.
So today, I'm going to share this amazing sandwich the world. Not just amazing, the PERFECT tomato chicken sandwich.
The Perfect Tomato Chicken Sandwich (for one!)
Ingredients:
- 1 ciabatta sandwich roll (I actually use an Ace Bakery baguette and cut it in 4)
- 1 clove of garlic, diced (and cooked until golden if you have time!)
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 1/3 a cup of diced red-and-yellow cocktail tomatoes.
- 1/2 an avocado
- drizzle of olive oil
- 1/2 a skinless chicken breast
- 1 oz shredded mozzarella
Directions:
1) Prepare your salsa topping by adding your diced garlic (cooked until golden if you have time), diced tomatoes, and your basil which you should tear into tiny pieces. Add a small drizzle (1/2 tsp at most) of olive oil and mix, with some salt to taste as desired. Set this aside in the fridge until it's time to assemble your sandwich.
You don't NEED to use different colours of tomatoes... but boy does it make it pretty! I actually like to use a mix of cocktail tomatoes anyway for different flavours in the salsa. You can usually buy "mixed" small tomatoes at your grocery store, or you can just buy cherry tomatoes and call it a day!
2) Cook your chicken breast in another (small) drizzle of olive oil over medium heat on the stove. You want to cook until the chicken is cooked through and just beginning to brown on the outside. Lower heat to medium-low and sprinkle mozzarella evenly over the top of the chicken. Remove from the stove when the cheese has melted.
3) Prepare the base of your sandwich. Take your bread and cut open, then lay face down on a cooking sheet, cooking in the oven at 350F for 3 minutes. When warm and beginning to toast, remove from oven and lay face up.
4) Start layering your sandwich. I opted to spread my ingredients across two open faced sandwiches but you can close as well if that's what you prefer (open face can be messy!). Add your avocado for the first layer, by either layering thinly, or "smooshing" down on to the bread.
5) Next, layer your chicken on top of the avocado. You may need to cut and trim to make it fit well on the bread. When you've got it sitting nicely, grab your salsa and scoop on top of the chicken! At this point you can either add the topper piece of bread, or have a delicious open faced experience.
You're done! This delicious and fresh sandwich is not only pretty to look at, but healthy and DELICIOUS!
Looking for a vegetarian variation? Use a whole avocado, a few more tomatoes, and then skip the chicken and cheese!
Looking for finger food? Slice your baguette width wise into medallions and serve vegetarian style. Or layer Avocado, Chicken, 1 thin sliced red and yellow tomato, basil leaf and buffalo mozzarella piece as a topper and secure with a toothpick!
Regardless of how you serve it up, it'll be a hit! What are you waiting for?
Cheers!
PS: If you liked this post, check out these posts!
