Orchard Chicken Salad Sandwich

I believe in this special notion about making sandwiches…from a single-filling sandwich (strawberry jam sandwich) to a multi-filling sandwich (the anything-goes-in sandwich!), anyone is capable of creating their own signature sandwich.

I know many eateries have taken sandwiches to a whole new level but the fact is, it cannot get simpler than it already is…choice of ingredients for filling stuffed (overloaded, mostly!) between two parts of bread! Some people prefer to focus on the type of bread that holds together all that filling and others fancy focusing on the inside :) Whatever the choices, once put together, a sandwich can be as satisfying as you wish it to be.

This time around for me, I wanted my sandwich filling to be something refreshingly satisfying. So I first made the Orchard Chicken Salad, inspired by a salad dish I had ordered in a restaurant some time back. I mix some cut pieces of fresh grapes, green apples and pears with coarsely chopped chunks of roasted chicken breast. I then add some low fat Miracle Whip, mustard cream, ground pepper and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice to the chicken and fruits mix and gently stir to get all the ingredients fully incorporated.

That’s the salad…light meal on its own or here, the filling for my dinner sandwich. Taking a bite off my Orchard Chicken Salad sandwich - generously spread filling on lightly toasted Oatnut bread (bread with oats and crunchy hazelnuts), made me a very happy girl :)

As a filling breakfast, a hearty lunch, a light dinner or a simple supper, sandwiches are my all-time favorite meal!

Homemade Sloppy Joe with Oven-Crisped Garlic Bread

This recipe was inspired by Chef Bobby Flay, just so you know. I actually got some ground turkey this time to make some meatballs when I happen to watch Throwdown with Bobby Flay featuring the all-American sloppy joe.

Although I have never cooked it previously or even ordered this sandwich in restaurants, I was tempted to try out because I already have all the ingredients needed at home and to be more exact, Chef Flay made it look super simple! After trying out, I know now it is really the case…

The ground turkey is cooked in rich tomato sauce (I used diced fresh tomatoes and some tomato paste), with diced onions, green peppers, celery and spices (cumin, ground black pepper, chili powder) and a pinch or two of brown sugar with salt to taste.

As usual, I modified the featured recipe by adding less brown sugar and a little more chili powder to suit our taste.

Another thing different is that I served my sloppy joe on garlic bread which I toasted till crispy in the oven. Originally the sloppy joe is served on soft buns so that the gravy will be absorbed by the bun but I wanted something to hold the content better.

A rather interesting take on the regular bread-with-meat meal…just don’t complain about the sloppiness when eating – the name should have given you an idea :)

Spinach-Chicken Tortilla Wraps

Hubby used to call me the ‘sandwich girl’ during our courtship :) That’s because my typical answer to his “what did you have for lunch/dinner today?” question was more often than not – sandwich! I was living on my own in KL, away from my family in Melaka, working 9-6 and managing a really long-distance relationship (which included phone calls and being online at odd hours !). At that time, the last thing I’d want to do was spend precious time preparing a three-course meal and then spend time cleaning the dishes.

Although my Cheras apartment was surrounded by eateries, eating out became a little too mundane. So I used to stock-up my fridge with various ingredients so that I’d have the option of creating a sandwich whenever I wanted.

What’s there not to like about sandwiches? It’s easy to prepare and so it’s time-saving and can be made as healthy as you would like it to be. It’s kind of a convenient comfort food. Plus if you whip up a sandwich meal at home, there won’t be too many dishes to do afterwards :) But seriously, sandwiches are the quickest and fastest way to have an all-in-all meal or a hearty snack.

These days, there is always a stock of rolled, uncooked tortillas in my refrigerator. Warm ‘em up a couple of minutes on a hot griddle and they are good to go as an alternative to bread in sandwiches. It makes it easy for ‘the sandwich girl’ to pack hubby a sandwich or two during the days of the week when he has to rush and commute from his office to the school campus for his MBAPM classes.

These Mexican flatbreads (almost similar to chapathis) are so versatile and especially wonderful for making warm sandwich wraps and the possibilities are simply endless. For the wrap featured here, first I cooked up some baby spinach leaves with garlic, pepper and some canned chicken meat and a few roasted almonds.

Then I pulse them a couple of times in the food processor with a little fat-free ranch sauce for the tanginess and creaminess.

Spread, wrap and chomp!