Green Goddess Chicken Sandwiches

Who likes picnics? I do, I do! When Jeff and I lived in Ann Arbor, we went on picnics at Gallup Park all the time – we’d ride our bikes, then relax by the Huron River, and try to resist the urge to feed the dozens of families of geese with their goslings. One time, against our better judgement, we tossed them some crackers. Well, what happened next made us both feel terrible – two families of geese came over to chow down. One family had 8 babies, and the other had 10. In the feeding frenzy over those few scraps, all of the babies got mixed up. One family walked away with 6 babies, and one walked away with 12. I hope they got it straightened out eventually, because I still feel bad just thinking about it, and I haven’t fed wild animals ever since. #lessonlearned

But, onward to happier times. Recently, I’ve had a ton of fresh herbs around – chives, cilantro, parsley, AND basil! And it so happened that while I was doing some recipe research to feed myself Vegan Before 6, I came across this excellent-looking Vegan Green Goddess dressing at Oh She Glows. The flavors looked amazing, but well, I was going to be eating this sandwich after 6, so I didn’t keep it vegan. Bring on the Greek yogurt (true love).

I threw a bunch of stuff in my mini food processor and whirled it up. To be honest, you don’t even need to measure anything here. I used a handful of each herb I had, one whole avocado, a half of a clove of garlic, a small tub of Greek yogurt, and some seasonings. I will note that this makes A LOT of Green Goddess sauce – about a cup and a half. I made four chicken sandwiches with it, and still had plenty of sauce left over. However, it keeps for about 2 days in the fridge (it even stays bright green!).

You can use it as a dip for fresh veggies or chips, or even thin it out with a bit of water and use it as a salad dressing. You could also make a half batch, but I didn’t want to do that, just because I didn’t want to end up with half an avocado and half a tub of Greek yogurt left over. Not that it would be the worst thing in the world to have to eat half an avocado. Second true love.

I’m officially in love with this healthy, creamy, herby sauce. It has a little tang from white balsamic vinegar and fresh lemon juice, and a bit of sweetness from honey. You can adapt this recipe for any leafy green herb you have around (you don’t need four different herbs – just a few would be fine). Chervil, mint, and tarragon would be good too. You could also put some spinach or green onions in the sauce.

Do whatever you want! Then grill up some chicken, dollop the sauce on, top with spinach and tomato, and enjoy! If you’re heading on a picnic, I would suggest assembling the sandwiches without the sauce, then adding the sauce when you get to your picnic blanket. You could also shred up the chicken, toss it with the sauce, and make Green Goddess Chicken Salad Sandwiches!

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Green Goddess Chicken Sandwiches

Yield: 4 servings (but you’ll have lots of leftover sauce to use as a dip or salad dressing)

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Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts, cut crosswise in half and pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 small clove garlic (or 1/2 of a larger clove)
• 1/2 cup fresh herbs (I used 2 tablespoons each basil, chives, cilantro and parsley)
• 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1 container (7 ounces) Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 4 hamburger buns or sandwich rolls
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves

Instructions

1. Prepare grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Spray chicken with nonstick spray and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and ground black pepper. Place chicken on hot grill rack and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken loses its pink color throughout and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove chicken from grill and let stand 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare Green Goddess Sauce: In food processor, pulse garlic until finely chopped. Add herbs; pulse again until finely chopped. Add avocado, yogurt, honey, lemon juice, vinegar, ground white pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Process until mixture is well combined (there will be visible flecks of herbs).
3. Build sandwiches using buns, spinach, chicken and Green Goddess Sauce.

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