Autumn Chicken Salad Restaurant Recreation

Finally a restaurant recreation! A local produce market/deli counter shares interesting or unusual orders on their Instagram stories that they have the manager try. I saw a chicken salad one that had so much going on, which is precisely my sandwich style. It was chicken salad, with cranberries, cheddar, bacon, apples, and honey mustard on an onion roll. I made a few tweaks but loved it nonetheless.

This is incredible and I don’t know why I haven’t put sharp cheddar on a chicken salad sandwich…plus the apples and cranberries are so fall. I couldn’t find the video to refresh my memory (of course) for a few details! I did skip the bacon as I felt it already had plenty happening here and it might get lost.

Autumn Chicken Salad Loaded Sandwich
Ingredients: (serves ~3)

1 chicken breast, fully cooked
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup cranberries
onion rolls
1-2 cups arugula
1 small apple
~3 slices of sharp white cheddar
2-3 tablespoons honey mustard

Directions:
Mix up the chicken salad with shredded chicken, mayo, salt/pepper, and cranberries.
Assemble your sandwiches on the onion rolls with a smear of mayo if desired, a bed of arugula, apple slices, chicken salad, and cheese.

Drizzle on the honey mustard.
Enjoy!

This is incredible. I love the chew of the dried cranberries and some sweet and tang from the honey mustard. The apples are great as slices or chopped into the chicken salad. The cheese might be a star here. We had garlic and herb cheddar and that was delightful.

Street Corn Burrito

I love to ask the question: will it burrito-ize? This hot wrap/burrito is vegetarian, full of flavor, and has great texture. It is a full meal from the rice and beans and has bright and creamy street corn, crunchy chips, and fresh from greens.

Streetcorn Burritos
Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 burrito-size flour tortillas
1 cup rice, cooked
1/2 cup white beans
1/2 cup street corn (corn + mayo + lime juice + cotija/feta + chili powder)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
greens (arugula or spinach)
2/3 cup corn chips

Directions:
Cook the rice and mix up the street corn.
Assemble the burrito by topping with cheese, then rice, beans, greens, street corn, and chips.

Warm a pan or griddle to medium heat.
Then carefully roll the burritos. Fold the sides in and tightly roll the burrito closed.
Pan fry to crisp the outside and melt the cheese. Start seam side down and rotate.

Enjoy!

Answer: yes, street corn will burrito-ize. It is always a good idea to make extra street corn and turn the leftovers into a burrito.

Meatball Break-apart Sliders

These were cute and fun which is exactly what dinner should be sometimes. Slider rolls get some garlic butter with sauce, cheese, and one meatball dropped in.

Meatball Break-apart Sliders
Ingredients: (for ~4)

12 slider rolls
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
12 meatballs
1/2 cup sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 teaspoon parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Melt the butter and mix in the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and minced garlic.
Slice/scoop out the center of each roll and gently fold to separate but not split them apart.
Spoon some garlic butter into the bottom of each well and brush the tops and bake for 5 minutes.
Add some tomato sauce, mozzarella, and a meatball into each one.

Top with more sauce and cheese. Sprinkle parmesan over it all.

Bake for 15 minutes until warmed through and melty.
Enjoy!

They are soft and flavorful from the garlic butter. Each kiddo ate more than it first seemed like would happen – one actually said “I don’t really like any of this” and then got started and wanted more. Twice.

They’re a crowd pleaser, that’s for sure. Kids might like making them since it is mostly assembly. Other varieties would be fun too!

Pickle Ranch Chicken Sandwich

This has all the good stuff. I want pickles in… or on everything. This is drippy and delicious and best eaten with lots of napkins.

Mix up some better-than-bottled ranch to make this special (and so it isn’t too runny leaving you less space for the pickle juice to mix in)!

Pickle Ranch Crispy Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 pieces of chicken (mine was breaded and frozen)
~ 1/4 cup ranch dip
~2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
~1/4 cup dill pickles
2 brioche buns
lettuce/tomato

Directions:
Mix up the ranch dip in advance. (Ranch Dressing will be too runny to then add pickle juice to!)
Air fry/bake the chicken until cooked through – according to your package/frozen/defrosted.
Chop half of the pickles and add to the ranch with the 2 tablespoons of pickle juice. Stir well.

Assemble each sandwich with some pickle ranch on each side of the buns, lettuce, chicken, and pickle slices.

Pour on remaining pickle ranch over the top, to take the sandwich over the top!
Enjoy!

These are so good. The brioche is a lovely way to sop up the dressing and when it coats the whole sandwich you get bits of pickle and whole pickle slices…yum. I loved this. Next I’ll try it with a piece of spicy chicken! Now, go get some napkins.

Pepperoni Pizza Caesar Wrap

This is the best of all the worlds – caesar salad + pepperoni pizza all formed into a wrap!

I saw this on TikTok but it was shaped like a quesadilla and I thought it would be better this way like a wrap – I cooked it like a quesadilla or like a skillet pizza. After I let it cool briefly, it gets topped with the caesar salad, then I folded it up like a wrap. It was so good.

Pepperoni Pizza Caesar Wrap
Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 large flour tortillas
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
pepperoni
sprinkle of chili flakes and/or Italian seasoning (optional)
1 small head of romaine lettuce
3 tablespoons Caesar dressing
croutons (optional)
1 teaspoon parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat a skillet to medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Warm the tortillas on the pan, topping with sauce then cheese then pepperoni on each.
Remove from the heat when melty and cooked through but not super crisp – it needs to be pliable and mostly soft. Sprinkle with chili flakes and seasoning, if desired.

Let it cool for ~2-3 minutes.
Chop the romaine and toss in the dressing. Season with cracked pepper and parmesan.
Pour the salad onto the centers of the quesadilla pizzas.

Wrap them up by folding the bottom up 1/3 of the way, and then roll/fold the left to right.
Enjoy!

This a nice zing from the pepperoni and cool creaminess from the salad – it has to be cool enough to not immediately wilt the lettuce. I loved this and appreciated it as a use for some small amounts of sauce and cheese! This is an excellent speedy way to have the flavors of pizza or to have salad and pizza on the go!