These chicken salad sandwiches make a great and creative alternative for the the traditional ham and cheese lunch sandwiches! Oh, hang on. There’s nothing wrong with classic and good old sammies with cheese or cold cuts!
On the contrary.
Who doesn’t love a couple of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches! I like them best in combination with a creamy homemade carrot and pumpkin soup. Excellent.
Look, I always try to keep some variation in our meals. I like to come up with creative ideas. And lots of this creativity also comes from cooking with leftovers!
Leftovers
I love creating a meal with leftovers. Even if I end up with leftovers on purpose.
So here’s what I normally do when I feel like making chicken salad sandwiches for lunch!
I will plan a chicken dinner the evening before and cook an extra chicken leg or chicken breast. Just let it cool in the fridge overnight. And then the text day the only thing I have to do is pick the meat off the bones and shred it.
Then make a yummy mayo dressing and stir in the shredded chicken.
Season it, add more mayo maybe and there it is a creamy chicken salad for lunch! Throw a couple of slices of bread in the toaster and serve.
Open Faced Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Plain and simple!
So what are a couple of other lunch ideas with (leftovers) that I make very often?
Omelets for instance! Sandwiches with omelet that reminds me of my childhood. My mom would sometimes make omelet sandwiches when we had to go on a school trip.
Besides I always have at least a dozen eggs in my fridge, no kidding. And that also brings me to a very simple but yummy lunch bite: sliced hard-boiled eggs with my favorite topping: mayo, worcester sauce and mustard!
Same thing: instead of cooking the chicken leg in advance, I boil some eggs for a cold egg salad and your lunch for next day is almost done!
Be creative, add variation!
Enjoy!
Chicken Salad Sandwiches Recipe
Open Faced Chicken Salad Sandwiches, a great idea for lunch!
- 2 slices sourdough bread
- 12,5 oz fresh chicken leg (350 g)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp hot chili sauce
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp paprika powder
- 2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- salt
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Add the chicken leg to a large saucepan together with the whole garlic clove and the bay leaves. Pour in as much water until the leg is totally submerged. Add a dash of salt tot it and place the pan over high heat.
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Bring the water to a rolling boil, then turn the heat low and simmer the chicken leg in the hot water for 8 to 10 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked, remove the chicken leg (you can use the chicken broth for another recipe if you like) and let it cook down fully.
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Then pick the meat from the chicken leg and shred it or chop it up a bit into smaller chunks. Add the chicken meat to a small mixing bowl together with the tomato paste and smoked paprika.
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Stir well again. Add the freshly chopped basil and season the shredded chicken with a little pinch of salt.
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Stir the chicken salad well. Check the seasoning and add extra salt, hot chili sauce, mayo, smoked paprika or tomato paste to taste if necessary. Grill the slices of bread until crisp. Then top them with the chicken salad. Sprinkle with extra freshly chopped basil and serve.
