Grilled Chicken and Tapenade Sandwiches & Veggie Skewers

This was my second menu meal of the week. Once again, Cooking Light had my whole plan laid out for me in advance. One thing I love about San Diego is that we can grill all year-round, even though this is more of a summer meal.

Game Plan:
1. Prepare topping for sandwiches
2. While topping stands:
Prepare vegetable skewers
Grill chicken and vegetables
3. While chicken stands:
Add cheese and remaining ingredients to topping.
4. Once slightly cooled, cut chicken into thin slices and assemble into sandwiches.

Grilled Chicken and Tapenade Sandwiches
recipe from Cooking Light 2008, pictures from my kitchen

Robust olives, balsamic vinegar, and feta cheese convey Mediterranean flavors.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups diced seeded tomato (I didn't bother seeding)
2 tablespoons finely chopped pitted kalamata olives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used regular parsley)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
5 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil, divided
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese
4 (2-ounce) ciabatta sandwich rolls, halved

Preparation

Combine first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Add 2 teaspoons oil; toss gently to combine. Let stand 15 minutes.

Prepare grill.

Brush chicken evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove from grill. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing thinly.

Add cheese and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to tomato mixture; stir gently to combine. Arrange sliced chicken evenly on bottom halves of rolls. Top each serving with one-fourth of tomato mixture, and cover with top halves of rolls. Serve immediately.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 369(30% from fat); FAT 12.3g (sat 3g,mono 7g,poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 33.2g; CHOLESTEROL 79mg; CALCIUM 63mg; SODIUM 815mg; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.1g

Jennifer Martinkus , Cooking Light, JUNE 2007

Vegetable Skewers

Cut 2 zucchini, 1 red bell pepper (I used yellow squash instead because Mike hates bell peppers and they aren't my fave, either), and 1 red onion into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Thread vegetables alternately onto 4 skewers, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill 15 minutes or until crisp-tender and lightly charred. Brush evenly with 1 T balsamic vinegar before serving. (I forgot to do this part. :( )

The veggie skewers were delicious!!! Seriously, the best zucchini I've had in ages. The sandwiches were REALLY good too, but the ciabatta bread was a little dry. I'm not a fan of dry bread. It started cracking towards the end, but the flavor was great. I really liked this recipe! And obviously, Mike enjoyed his meal, too!

Sesame Chicken & Vegetable Rice

Last night I made Sesame Chicken & Vegetable Rice, also from Melissa's blog. This girl has got some great recipes. My changes are in red. I served the chicken and rice with vegetable potstickers and edamame. It was a hit with everyone!

Baked Sesame Chicken

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I cut mine into strips)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (I used sesame oil)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used Nanami Togarashi, a Japanese red pepper mix)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place soy sauce in a 9x13 inch baking dish. On a piece of wax paper, mix together the sesame seeds, flour, salt and pepper (and red pepper). Dip the chicken pieces in the soy sauce to coat, then dredge in the sesame seed mixture.
3. Place in medium/hot pan on stove top and flip after a minute or two, add a little sesame oil and soy sauce to keep the chicken moist. Remove and arrange in baking dish in a single layer, then drizzle with sesame oil and some more soy sauce.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for approximately 40 minutes (mine took about 20 minutes because it was pre-cooked on the stove and cut into strips), or until chicken is cooked through and tender and juices run clear. Baste with drippings once during cooking time. Garnish with extra sesame seeds if desired, and serve.

Vegetable Rice

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of long grain white rice
2 cups chicken stock (I used vegetable broth so my veggie roommate could eat it)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (I used minced garlic)
Dash of soy sauce
1 carrot grated (cook with a little water to make tender, drain water)
1 1/2 cups cooked broccoli-cut up small
Soy Sauce to your taste
oil (I used sesame oil)

DIRECTIONS

Combine first 5 ingredients, bring to boil, cover and reduce to simmer. Cook about 20 minutes or until rice is fluffy and liquid if gone. Transfer rice to stir-fry pan add carrots and broccoli. Mix together and add some oil and soy sauce to your taste.