What I Ate: Pesto Chicken Panini

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

Sandwiches are such a quick and easy dinner for me. I love paninis and and I’m continually surprised how versatile they are. This was going to be chicken breasts marinated and grilled in pesto then I decided to shred it. I figured that would definitely make this seem different than some of my other paninis annnnnd I wouldn’t have that whole take a bite and the whole chicken breast comes out.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken tenders (or 2 chicken breasts)
1/3 cup prepared pesto
1 tbs grated parmesan
1 tomato
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, or sliced provolone, or fresh mozzarella
4 slices of bread

Directions:
Cook the chicken in simmering water until fully cooked, about 10 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini

Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and Parmesan, then add the pesto and shred with 2 forks pulling the chicken apart.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini
Heat a panini press/grill pan/large skillet to medium high heat.
Assemble the sandwiches with sliced tomato and pesto chicken mixture.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini

Top the sandwiches with cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini
Grill until toasty and melty on each side…about 3-5 minutes per side.
Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini
I love the flavors in this. The tomato is key for keeping the chicken moist. The pesto is a great use for a partial jar. I would normally have used sliced cheese but I had leftover shredded mozzarella and no plan for it, so this worked well.

Paninis need bread that can hold up to what goes inside. I think this nutty one works great. I think the Pesto Chicken Panini is kind of a nod to a lazy-man’s pizza…which makes great panini fillings.

Some of my other fav paninis are: fig and prosciutto panini, bacon & gouda panini with peach compote, and turkey cranberry & brie panini.

What I Ate: Chicken Parmesan Subs

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

These easy chicken parmesan subs have a few special touches that make them wayyy better than take-out. The secret is pesto on the bread. I do the same kind of thing for meatball subs. The roll also needs to be toasted…otherwise it will get soggy from the marinara in .2 seconds.

These rolls lived in the freezer until I needed a quick dinner. I like soft rolls for this (rather than ciabatta or sourdough rolls). I used breaded chicken tenders making this an even easier dinner.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parmesan Sub

Ingredients:

3 chicken tenders
2 sub rolls
3 tbs pesto
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tbs grated Parmesan
3 slices of provolone cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
Cook chicken tenders until cooked through.
Spread pesto and a drizzle of olive oil onto the rolls.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parmesan Sub
Toast the rolls in the oven for 5 minutes.
Top with chicken and tomato sauce.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parmesan Sub
Cook for 10 minutes.
Top with Parmesan and provolone cheese and return to the oven until melted.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parmesan Sub

Some of my other fav sandwiches for dinner are: 
chicken and pear sandwiches with arugula and sharp cheese
fig jam and prosciutto on strong ciabatta
sliced turkey, cranberry, and brie panini on nutty wheat bread
Italian grilled cheese with breaded eggplant
some panini tips

any quick dinner ‘wiches to recommend? 

What I Ate: Fig and Prosciutto Panini

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

This panini was more so a pressed sandwich. I realized I had some fig jam leftover from a fig and prosciutto pizza. I love fig jam on toast or in oatmeal but I wanted to use it another way. I hate specialty ingredients that have a one-time use. It has such a unique flavor and I don’t find it so strong that you can’t eat it all the time. I love it with prosciutto for the sweet/salty combo. This time I thought a panini would be a perfect use for it.

The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini

This fig & prosciutto panini is kind of a nod to a monte cristo like the raspberry preserves or a Thanksgiving gobbler with cranberry sauce. Paninis are the perfect week-night meal or cooking-for-one or as a use for leftovers.

Ingredients:

2 ciabatta rolls, or 4 slices of crusty bread
4-6 slices of prosciutto
4-6 slices of fontina cheese
3 tablespoons fig spread
handful of arugula (optional)

Directions:

Assemble the sandwich with a drizzle of olive oil onto the bread, then fig spread on one side. Lay arugula and cheese onto the other side.
The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini
Preheat a grill pan or panini press or oven to medium-high heat.
Add arugula on top of the cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini
Close up the sandwich. Optional: brush with olive oil or butter.
The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini
Cook for about 5 minutes, melting the cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini

Ohh wow. So good. There are no words.
The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini
This is so good and I think I could eat it weekly. The prosciutto is super salty but delicate and was great with a mild cheese (that melts well, like fontina). The arugula was leftover this week but I wanted the peppery-ness on here. The fig jam is sweet and sticky with such a great dominance on this sandwich. I seriously think this needs crusty and tough bread…nothing wimpy and soft will do for this.

I want this again. right. now.
The Three Bite Rule - Fig & Prosciutto Panini

suggested adaptations: 
fig & prosciutto panini – arugula + spinach/pickled red onions/roasted red peppers = a twist on the veggies
fig & prosciutto panini – half the bread + assembled on crustini toasts = an appetizer format
fig & prosciutto panini – fig jam + roasted figs/dried figs, sliced = similar flavors with different textures
fig & prosciutto panini + pan fried prosciutto – panini cooking = crispy prosciutto sandwich with fig

What I Ate: Pizza Grilled Cheese

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I love grilled cheeses packed with all sorts of crazy stuff in ’em. Enter: pizza stuffed grilled cheese. I had a few extra ingredients to a basic grilled cheese with some marinara for dipping. It was a super fast dinner without any leftovers clogging up the fridge. I appreciated the use of some ingredients getting put to good use.

The Three Bite Rule - Pizza Grilled Cheese
Pizza fillings:
american cheese
mozzarella cheese
chopped basil
sliced pepperoni

So good. Many of these items were lasagna leftovers (post coming soon!). Saving even small bits of something comes in handy, especially for instances such as this! This was super comforting with great flavor.

suggested adaptations:
grilled cheese + tomato slices + basil leaves/pesto spread = caprese grilled cheese
grilled cheese + ricotta schmered in there + tomato sauce spread inside = lasagna grilled cheese
grilled cheese + pepperjack + avocado slices + salsa to dip = nacho grilled cheese
seriously, the possibilities are endless.

Some other grilled cheeses I’ve loved:
Grilled cheese with balsamic onions
Grilled cheese with bacon and peach compote
Grilled cheese with breaded eggplant and pesto

Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Onions

I try to plan a few easy/easier/not-always-blogworthy/leftover dinners each week. Every night is not photo worthy here at casa-the three bite rule, especially since my new job us suuuuper busy. Tonight is my first event there! Wish me luck!

Since it is feeling like fall with lovely 60-degree days, I wanted something seasonal. Grilled cheese and tomato soup seemed appropriate since I kept seeing interesting grilled cheese passing right under my eyes.

bal_onion_grilled_cheese_590_390
A Cup of Jo posted a grown up grilled cheese from Just a Taste that looked so good. It was packed with cheddar, kale, and caramelized onions. That was my inspiration for the balsamic onions I added to my sandwich.

I also saw From Away posting an amazing canned tomato soup with a BLT twist with grilled cheese croutons.

My dinner was a souped-up grilled cheese (haha, get it?) and a can of creamy tomato soup. Done and done. I liked the little touch to make it more exciting but really the beauty of this meal was how simple and perfectly paired this meal was.

I didn’t really caramelize the onions. I cheated.
bal_onions_chopped_590_390
I cooked the onions through, just past becoming translucent. Then I drizzled some balsamic vinegar and cooked them for another minute or two.
bal_onions_balsamic_590_390
This is onions done in 10 minutes, tops. No 40 minutes of onion-caramelizing for me that night.

The soup was just a heated can of tomato bisque from Campbell’s. I mean, I know there’s a lot of sodium in there, but it isn’t crazy-bad-for-you if the rest of the meal is reasonable. I don’t use any butter for the grilled cheese either – just some nonstick spray and a little olive oil.

The grilled cheese had some sharp cheddar and some swiss on sourdough. The onions were sweetly tangy. Mr. J doesn’t really do soup, but he was a good sport about it.

Mr. A bookmarked these note-worthy grilled cheeses until he can get his life back from work. I also recommend my bacon, cheddar, and peach compote panini, or my Italian grilled cheese with breaded eggplant, or the Pioneer Woman’s hot ham & cheese with poppyseed sauce, or it is perfect season for a grilled turkey, cranberry, and brie panini.

What grilled cheese ideas do YOU have?