From the Archives: Lemon-Marinated Chicken Sandwiches

Still not home, still not cooking, still blogging from the hospital.

It's 4 a.m., I can't sleep so I decide to come up with a blogpost.  I went through the oodles of photos that are on this computer. 

There are lots of photos from meals that I haven't posted. In many cases, because the photos are uninspiring, too light,  too dark,  God-awful,  really bad. 

I deleted those.  They will never be blog-worthy.

Then there were some photos that weren't so bad, but I never blogged the recipe because I got so caught up in cooking I forgot to snap photos along the way.  You may remember me mentioning my photo-lapse problems in this previous post .

I took a look at my blog stats and I'm still amazed at the number of hits that I get and where they come from (hello! to the recent visitors from Germany and Russia).  So I decided to post a recipe that is so worth making, despite only having two pictures--"before" and "after."   

You'll have to use your imagination for all the pictures in between.  If I can remember, I will take more photos next time I make these sandwiches and add them in.

Finally edited on 9/30/11 with more pictures.  Thank you for your patience!!

Lemon-Marinated Chicken Sandwiches

Printable Recipe

• 2 lemons, juiced
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 6-8 thin-sliced boneless chicken cutlets
• 4 sub or kaiser rolls
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1 ripe pear (any type you like) thinly sliced
• 4 slices prosciutto
• 2 cups baby arugula or baby spinach

Gather your ingredients.

Juice the lemons.  Reserve 1 tablespoon to be added to the dressing.  Stir remaining lemon juice and thyme in a shallow dish.

Add the chicken cutlets to the marinade, turning them over to coat well.  Let the chicken sit and marinate for about 10 minutes while you toast your rolls and prepare the dressing.

To toast the rolls: Cut them open, crush the garlic into the melted butter and then you can either

1.  Brush a little bit of the butter/garlic on each side of the cut rolls and place them under your broiler to toast

or

2.  Brush a little bit of the butter/garlic on each side of the cut rolls and place them face-down on a hot skillet to toast.

I chose the "brush and broil" method.

Make the dressing:  combine the reserved lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl.

Whisk it all together.

Thinly slice the pear and prosciutto.

By now your rolls should be done toasting.

Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Cook your chicken about 2 or 3 minutes on each side, until done.

The chicken in the above picture is about halfway done, you can see how it's no longer pink around the edges.

Flip it and continue to cook for a minute or two, until done.

While the chicken is cooking, add the dressing to the arugula.....

........and toss to combine.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and place one or two cutlets (depending upon the recipient's appetite) on each roll.  Slice the cutlets to fit the roll, if necessary, and pile them on.  Layer with the pear, prosciutto and the dressed greens. 


Squish the top of the roll onto the sandwich. 

You may want to start gobbling this yummy sandwich, but try to wait 1 minute.  Sit on your hands if you must.  You'll be glad you waited.  Give the flavors a chance to blend, and the greens a chance to soften and wilt.  There's so many flavors that are fighting to get noticed........the garlic, mustard and lemon are shouting for attention and the Parmesan, chicken and prosciutto are subtly calming them down.  This is a case where the whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts. Okay, you've waited long enough, now dig in.  Enjoy!

 Can't help it, had to include an archive picture of some puppy love.  My husband would have told them, "Get off the couch!"  Me, I snap a picture instead.  Sure am glad I took this.  I miss Gracie.