A Rhonda Sandwich

The inspiration for this sandwich, I am sad to say, was not my own. It was that of a posting of one of my family friends' on Facebook! Rhonda, your turkey leftover sandwich looked excellent! I took the idea and ran with it. I guess ya'll should know what she made before I tell you how I changed it. Only fair haha. She made a panini with leftover turkey, cranberry chutney, arugula, and Gorgonzola. What she didn't know was that I have been trying to find recipes using arugula because I have such an abundance growing in the garden, I don't know what to do with it all.

Because of the peppery taste that is signature to arugula, my family and I don't really prefer it as a salad. Having grown it myself that peppery taste is just so strong I need to put it into other foods. Hello?!? Sandwich!!! Duh.

So I changed out the turkey for chicken breast that I just pan sautéed with poultry seasoning. I got both a French baguette and a ciabatta loaf for the bread. We have a lot of blue cheese so I switched that out for the Gorgonzola. Both cheeses have very strong flavored and work well interchangeably. Instead of making chutney I used the cranberry relish left over from thanksgiving. It's a family recipe that Gran makes with orange zest that gives it a really fresh taste. Finally, I have a addiction to cheese. I'm not afraid to tell you, "hello, my name is Dev and I'm addicted to cheese." All kinds of cheese, I will, without fail, find a cheese that can go with anything. Some might even say I could put cheese on my cheese. Which I did. I put provolone on the sandwich while it was toasting in the toaster over and then the blue cheese!

It was a surprisingly harmonious sandwich of flavor. I admit, I was apprehensive about putting cranberry relish on my sandwich but it really enjoyed it. The peppery flavor of the arugula offset the sweet and she chicken and cheese added salty and savory. Yum!

On a side note, I also made a Greek salad out of the abundance of cherry tomatoes from the garden and a cucumber. I have to mention, growing your own veggies is so rewarding! I love picking the produce and having the fresh food but even more than that, the flavors are so incredibly strong that you get the flavor of what a real tomato or pepper or whatever tastes like!! The dressing was just equal parts oil and vinegar with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and onion powder.

Moral of the post? Don't underestimate your sandwiches ya'll! They can be fabulous!