In my quest to find recipes that only use ingredients from my limited supply of pantry staples, I came upon this little gem in the December 2008 issue of Cooking Light: Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo. The prep was simple, other than the fact that I overlooked the part about marinating the chicken for 2-8 hours....which is why we didn't have these for dinner last night!
Now, I am not a mayo fan...never have been. Still, I wanted something flavorful with my chicken. So I made a bit of a lime juice, garlic, and cilantro mixture to spread on mine. That's what you see in the little glass on the right.
Since this recipe (and most of those from Cooking Light) are available on MyRecipes.com, there are lots of ratings and comments. You can read yourself silly with all the comments, especially since many cooks change the recipes in subtle (and not so subtle ways). After reading a few of them, you start to wonder exactly what recipe they rated, and which altered recipe is actually better than the others. I appreciate what they've done, but I usually decide to prepare the original recipe, and then compare my thoughts with the comments. In this case, though, I did make one little tiny change....I used 4 TB hot sauce instead of 3. I like things spicy, and some reviewers didn't find this recipe spicy enough...even recommending 6 TB of hot sauce.
OK...I'm coming clean...I probably made as many substitutions/changes as the average reviewer. You can see mine below, along with my thoughts about them. In the end though, the sandwich can be summed up best by my husband who said, "That was delicious!" at the end of the meal. Most definitely a keeper!
And, another great thing about this recipe is that it will freeze well. I cooked up two of the chicken pieces for tonight, and flash froze the other two for later. Next time I'll make more!
Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo
(Cooking Light)
Chicken cutlets are encrusted with tortilla chip crumbs, which yield a satisfying crunch. You can also use spicy chips for more heat.
4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)
- Mayo:
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Chicken:
- 1/4 cup egg substitute
- 3* tablespoons hot sauce (such as Tabasco**)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano***
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 4 1/2 ounces baked tortilla chips (about 6 cups)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Remaining ingredients: - 4 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls, split
- 12 (1/8-inch-thick) red onion slices
- 4 lettuce leaves
1. To prepare mayo, combine the first 4 ingredients.
2. To prepare chicken, combine egg substitute, hot sauce, oregano, and salt in a large zip-top plastic bag. Cut chicken breast halves in half horizontally to form 4 cutlets. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.
3. Place tortilla chips in a food processor; process 1 minute or until ground. Place ground chips in a shallow dish.
4. Working with one cutlet at a time, remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Coat chicken completely in chips. Set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and chips.
5. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan, swirl
ing to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned and done. Spread mayo evenly over cut sides of rolls. Layer bottom half of each roll with 3 onion slices, 1 lettuce leaf****, and 1 chicken cutlet; top with top halves of rolls.
*I used 4 TB, which I thought was just right. It might be too spicy for the Pace Picante crowd or kiddos, but if you want a bit of heat (not a lot) try 4 TB.
**I used Tapatio
***OK...I changed the recipe more than I admitted...I didn't have oregano so I used Italian seasoning! Tasted great to me!
****OOPS! I had the lettuce all ready to go, and forgot to put it on the sandwiches! DOH!
Calories: 419 (28% from fat) Fat: 13.2g (sat 1.7g,mono 6.1g,poly 3.4g) Protein: 28.1g Carbohydrate: 46.8g Fiber: 2.6g Cholesterol: 49mg Iron: 3.2mg Sodium: 759mg Calcium: 101mg
To make these ahead for the freezer, prepare steps 2-4. Freeze the raw, coated chicken in a single layer. I usually make a dozen or so of these, so I just have to cook them up and make the sauce (which won't freeze well). But having steps 2-4 done ahead, really is a time saver!
2. To prepare chicken, combine egg substitute, hot sauce, oregano, and salt in a large zip-top plastic bag. Cut chicken breast halves in half horizontally to form 4 cutlets. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.
3. Place tortilla chips in a food processor; process 1 minute or until ground. Place ground chips in a shallow dish.
4. Working with one cutlet at a time, remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Coat chicken completely in chips. Set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and chips.
5. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan, swirl
ing to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned and done. Spread mayo evenly over cut sides of rolls. Layer bottom half of each roll with 3 onion slices, 1 lettuce leaf****, and 1 chicken cutlet; top with top halves of rolls.*I used 4 TB, which I thought was just right. It might be too spicy for the Pace Picante crowd or kiddos, but if you want a bit of heat (not a lot) try 4 TB.
**I used Tapatio
***OK...I changed the recipe more than I admitted...I didn't have oregano so I used Italian seasoning! Tasted great to me!
****OOPS! I had the lettuce all ready to go, and forgot to put it on the sandwiches! DOH!
Calories: 419 (28% from fat) Fat: 13.2g (sat 1.7g,mono 6.1g,poly 3.4g) Protein: 28.1g Carbohydrate: 46.8g Fiber: 2.6g Cholesterol: 49mg Iron: 3.2mg Sodium: 759mg Calcium: 101mg
To make these ahead for the freezer, prepare steps 2-4. Freeze the raw, coated chicken in a single layer. I usually make a dozen or so of these, so I just have to cook them up and make the sauce (which won't freeze well). But having steps 2-4 done ahead, really is a time saver!
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