Caramelized onions, shredded chicken, crunchy cabbage all on ciabatta with a spicy mayo sauce and side of beet and sweet potato chips! Mmmmmm!

There's nothing quite like a fresh baguette sandwhich for lunch!  For an extra special twist on this chicken sandwhich, we decided to add caramelized onions, spicy mayo, and crunchy red cabbage! It was amazing!!! We decided that our 3rd recipe from our roasted chickens would be a second kind of sandwhich! We used the chicken from our two birds to make chicken pot pie, a chicken curry salad sandwhich, and this one! Repurposing our food and making sure we use all of it is one of our specialities.  From the bones we also made a homemade broth.  As a side for this delicious lunch, we made some assorted vegetable chips (composed of sweet potato, beets, and regular potatoes).  

Ingredients

serves 5

• 3 chicken tenderloins, cooked and finely diced (or in our case, about 3 cups of shredded chicken from our classically roasted bird)

• 1/2 a head of red cabbage chopped

• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and desired amount of sriracha sauce combined

• Ciabatta Baguette (6 inch = 1 sandwhich)

Caramalized Onions

• Several medium or large onions, yellow, white, or red

• Olive oil

• Butter (optional)

• Salt

• Sugar (optional)

Directions

These take a while so before you do anything, start the caramelized onions! Slice a few onions with a mandolin.  

Heat olive oil and butter, add onion slices: Use a wide, thick-bottomed sauté pan for maximum pan contact with the onions. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and butter (about 1 teaspoon per onion). Heat the pan on medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally.

Depending on how strong your stovetop burner is you may need to reduce the heat to medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning or drying out.

After 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt over the onions, and if you want, you can add some sugar to help with the caramelization process. (I add only about a teaspoon of sugar for 5 onions, you can add more.) One trick to keeping the onions from drying out as they cook is to add a little water to the pan.

Cook, stirring every few minutes: Let cook for 30 minutes to an hour more, stirring every few minutes. As soon as the onions start sticking to the pan, let them stick a little and brown, but then stir them before they burn. Once they look ready, remove from heat and set aside until your sandwhich is ready!

Sweet Potato And Beet Chips (And Any Other Kind Of Potato / Chip)

Ingredients

• 4 medium beets

• 2 medium sweet potatoes

• 2 normal potatoes

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Salt to taste

• A few sprigs of rosemary

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Slice vegetables into thin layers, about 1/8 of an inch (use a mandolin) or a sharp knife. 

3. Toss them with in a large bowl and toss with olive oil and rosemary. 

4. Evenly spread slices on a baking sheet (covered in aluminum foil for easy clean up!) and sprinkle on some sea salt and extra rosemary. 

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping the chips halfway through. Remove when beets lighten in color. They will crisp up when cool.

Toasting The Ciabbatta

Slice the ciabatta in half making sure that the top half is thicker.  This way you can ensure the inside of the bread is easy to pull out (making more room for your chicken salad filling and eliminating some calories!).  Next brush each side with olive oil and sprinkle on some salt (which really enhances the flavor like you wouldn't imagine). Pop them on a tray (on aluminum foil) and toast them in the oven on 375 for around 10 minutes until browned. 

Final Steps

Your bread is toasted, your onions and chips are ready, and it's time to assemble the sandwhich! Put some spicy mayo on one side and pile the chicken into the hole you've created. Top with crunchy red cabbage and caramelized onions and enjoy with your healthy chips!

Tip: Wrap in parchement paper and twist ends. Slide in half with a sharp knife and serve on a plank of wood!