Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich (Banh Mi)

Vicki in CT's Note:

Salty, sweet, crunchy all on one sandwich. Guaranteed to excite your taste buds! Healthy sandwich that comes together quickly. This can be grilled outdoors or cooked in a skillet/grill pan indoors. Serve with a nice soup for a super simple, but healthy meal.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I like them on the thinner side but thick is fine too)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil (can also use a chile infused oil for some zip)
• ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt (or powder to reduce sodium)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (can sub splenda)
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• ½ tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon vinegar (I use rice wine, but any variety will do or can also sub with lime juice)
• 1 cup broccoli slaw mix
• ½ cucumber , VERY thinly sliced (I like the English seedless variety)
• cilantro (chopped) (optional)
• hot pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 rolls , split (ciabatta bread is great but any bread choice will do)

Directions:

1. Drizzle olive oil over chicken breasts. Season with garlic salt.
2. Wrap rolls in foil to heat on grill, or if cooking chicken indoors just pop in toaster oven to lightly toast.
3. Chicken can be grilled outdoors or seared in a non stick skillet sprayed with Pam. Cook until done (10-15 minutes approximately depending on heat), without overcooking.
4. Meanwhile, while chicken is cooking, in a very small sauce pan combine sugar, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, water, oil, and vinegar. Heat over medium low while stirring until sugar is disolved and peanut butter is melted.
5. Assemble sandwiches by layering cucumbers on bottom of roll, top with chicken, followed by broccoli slaw (cilantro/hot pepper flakes if using too), then drizzle sauce over slaw. Top with upper bun.

Reviews

[Starrynews]

Nice blend of flavors and textures! There is a nice crunch from the cucumbers and broccoli slaw. I included both the optional cilantro (mixed into the slaw) and the red pepper flakes (mixed into the peanut sauce). I did find the peanut sauce a touch on the salty side, despite using reduced sodium soy sauce, so next time I will probably vary the ratio of water to soy sauce. Thanks for sharing! L-O-V-E '12 Event.

[ostomo]

The peanut sauce totally sets this sandwich off! Sweet and salty at its finest. This is one to keep for a rainy afternoon when your feeling like a great hearty lunch!

[cookin_nurse]

My husband & I really enjoyed this for dinner and he also had leftovers for lunch today at work. Great combination of flavors, they all just went well together! Great hit with our family! Made for zwt6 asia region!