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The trashiest, tastiest toastie

This week’s recipe partially feels like a cheat. After all, it’s just a grilled cheese sandwich with a few extras. 

But it’s been a long year and I needed some comfort food. Besides, it *is* made with a few additions that make it at least a little unlike any grilled cheese I’ve made before, starting with coating the outside in mayonnaise. 

Chicken cheese toastie ingredients.

Before I get to any additional weirdness, though, I want to explain how I came to make this recipe to begin with. It’s a fun story time, I promise. 

I came across a click-baity article a couple months ago that was about the kind of conspiracy theory I can get behind, one that is quite harmless and mostly meaningless. That is, the theory that the Nando’s brand medium peri peri sauce is in fact spicier than its hot variety. I’ve long been a fan of peri peri sauce, as it’s a not-too-hot hot sauce for my tastes and its extremely flavorful beyond just spicy. And Nando’s is the brand I typically buy. 

So, I went ahead and bought a bottle of both and conducted a taste test with some quite tasty chicken wings. My sweetie, who had not seen which was which when I placed it on the plate, was fooled into thinking the medium was the hot sauce. While I could not likewise do a blind taste test, I shared his opinion. 

The wings, however, did not use up all the sauce and we had two bottles (actually four, because I also sampled some other varieties) in our fridge, looking for an excuse to be used. So, I perused the recipe booklet that came with the bottles and couldn’t resist the toastie (read: grilled cheese) recipe. It had chicken, peri peri, cheese, and then was supposed to be coated in peri peri-based mayonnaise; while I didn’t have the Nando’s brand mayonnaise, I did have some powdered peri peri lying around, so I mixed it together with mayonnaise. 

The result was more or less what I expected: spicy grilled cheese with chicken. And a lot of filling for two sammies. Which means, it was a frickin’ delight! 

The mayonnaise cooked the outside a little too well, but I should have turned the stove down when the first side came up a bit blackened. Otherwise, though, I loved every unhealthy bite. 

Slightly burnt but the tastiest toastie I’ve ever made.

Here’s what I did, following the booklet recipe other than faking the “perinaise”: 

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ c. cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
  • 1 ½ c. shredded sharp cheddar
  • ½ c. peri peri sauce (whichever level of spice you prefer, but remember, the medium may be hotter!)
  • ¼ mayonnaise 
  • Peri peri powder, to taste (optional)
  • 4 slices of bread
  • Vegetable oil

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken, cheese, and peri peri sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and peri peri powder, if using. 

Spread the chicken and cheese mixture over two slices of bread. Top with the remaining two slices of bread. 

Spread the ½ the mayonnaise mixture on one side of the top of both bread slices. 

Heat a 9-inch skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Add a splash of vegetable oil. 

Place one sandwich, mayonnaise side down, and spread half the remaining mayonnaise on the top of the bread in the skillet while it cooks. Cook for 2 ½ to 3 minutes until golden, and adjust temperature as needed. Once golden, flip the toastie and cook on the other side for another 2 ½ to 3 minutes until golden and the center is warmed and melty. 

Repeat the process with the remaining sandwich, using up the rest of the mayonnaise to coat the last bare slice of bread, and enjoy with a healthy salad to counterbalance this delectable dinner! 

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Two courses plus dip equals one skillet meal

This week’s recipe was something I was going to make as soon as I saw it in my most recent Food & Wine edition. It was just a bonus that it happened to be the perfect meal to get the most use out of my little Le Creuset.

The picture alone was enough to pique my interest in this summer heat: a simple grilled chicken breast atop a dip with a light salad. Then, I actually read the recipe and saw that the dip was not hummus as I presumed but a pepper feta dip. That sold it for me. I was all in.

I wrote down the recipe ingredients, and my sweetie masked up and did our weekly shopping.

Ingredients for grilled chicken with pepper feta dip and salad.

When it came time to make it, I looked closer at the directions and saw to my delight that every part that required cooking would work in my small skillet.

Like a lot of the recipes I’ve made this year — and I’ve learned since I started focusing on using a specific piece of kitchen equipment — there’s more than one way to make this dinner.

If you’re an outdoor griller, feel free to grill the chicken there (the recipe actually called for a grill pan, which is a lot like my small skillet but with ridges). If you would prefer to toast the pita in a toaster, fine. You could even broil the peppers to break them down instead of sauteing them in a small skillet, like the recipe called for.

However, for me, it was perfect to use just the one piece of cooking equipment. (Don’t get me wrong, this recipe dirties a fair number of dishes, just I only used the skillet for cooking.) I didn’t really even bother to do cleaning between uses.

Everything turned out perfectly, though my chicken needed to cook for longer as I admittedly used two chicken breasts instead of just the one the recipe called for since it was supposed to be a dinner for one. I likewise doubled up on everything else.

While I really enjoyed both courses and how they worked well together — the pepper dip complements the same raw peppers in the fattoush and the chicken is so simple to let the dip shine — the real standout was the three-ingredient dip.

If you’re feeling lazy, buy a salad, buy some rotisserie chicken, but place it upon this awesome dip. Or just make the dip. It’s amazing.

It looks great; it tastes better.

Here’s what I did, doubling the recipe (that still left leftover dip!):

Ingredients 

  • 6 T. olive oil, divided
  • 4 medium banana peppers or other mild peppers (we used anaheim, which were a twitch spicier), seeded and sliced, divided
  • 8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
  • 3 T. lemon juice, divided
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 pita
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • ~12 grape tomatoes
  • 1 small cucumber, halved and sliced
  • 2 T. red onion, diced
  • ~12 pitted kalamata olives, halved
  • Torn mint or parsley, to taste

Directions

Heat 2 T. oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add about half the sliced peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until softened and lightly browned. Transfer to a blender or a food processor and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, use another 2 T. to coat the chicken in oil and re-coat the small skillet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Grill chicken breasts about 8 minutes per side until the thickest part reaches 155 degrees (it will continue to cook while it cools). Remove from heat and set aside to let rest for 10 minutes.

Then, grill the pita, turning often, until crisp and lightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes. Let cool slightly while bringing the salad together.

Combine the remaining raw peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, mint or parsley. Add the remaining 2 T. olive oil, 1 T. lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Tear up the pita into about 1 inch pieces, and stir into the salad.

Finally, with the sauteed peppers cooled, add the feta and the remaining 2 T. lemon juice. Process until thick and creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

To serve, place about ¼ c. of the dip on each of two plates; slice the chicken, and place atop the dip; and divide the salad on the plates (or in a separate bowl); and enjoy!