Sundays

     Sundays, while a great day for churchgoing, road tripping, movie seeing, friend hanging (that didn't come out right even if there's always that friend - hanging with friends), were never really a routine day for anything in our household. This mostly is a direct result of my husband's work schedule, with which he doesn't often get weekends off. The times he does, we toss a coin between going out and doing something, or staying home to just have a relaxing day. Today happened to be one of the latter. I've been procrastinating hardcore with grocery shopping, and whenever I head to the store, I barely buy full meals worth of items. Some snacks here, some fruit there, maybe a cut of meat I'm really craving. Needless to say, our fridge is in a very sad state.

With Blueberries and Iced Tea

     Yesterday on the way home, my husband picked up some emergency provisions in case "the big one" finally hit southern California. He bought fruit cups (I asked for canned but these are even better), canned veggies, Vienna sausages (why............ god why...), plenty of water, and some canned chicken breast meat (it's basically the chicken version of canned tuna). I was too lazy to drive down for fast food, which none of us wanted to eat anyway, and didn't feel like shopping again for something fancy, so I broke out a can of the chicken and made grilled chicken salad sandwiches with Gruyère. Simple enough and truly delicious, between the crunchy, chewy crust, the ooey-gooey goodness of the cheese, and the subtle zing of scallions.

Mmm... cheese...

     Both my husband and daughter loved it so much (it's just a sandwich! in my mind) I had to make an extra one to satisfy everybody. Considering how simple it was, everything came together in under 15 minutes, I will probably be making a lot more of these in the coming weeks. Although not the lightest meal you can go for, it's definitely better than a big juicy burger.
    To make it more on the healthy side, I substitute butter with Earth Balance, a product from our old days of eating vegan; we haven't stopped using it since and rarely use real butter in anything unless we absolutely have to. My husband insists on whole wheat or whole grain bread over white. I use 1 full tablespoon of mayo per can of chicken (these cans are bigger than your regular small tuna cans) - each can makes two hearty sandwiches, or three leaner ones.
     On a side note, Gruyère is one of my favorite cheeses! To me, it tastes like parmesan but melts in an absolutely heavenly fashion. I can't remember where, but a long time ago I found a recipe for Gruyère and smoked Fontina grilled cheese... mindblowingly delicious. If you're a fellow cheese lover and have a penchant for parmigiano, do get some Gruyère and try it out in your favorite sandwich!
     While I'm sure most know how to make grilled sandwiches, I'm going to include what I used and did anyway:

Grilled Chicken Salad with Gruyère*
 Makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices of bread (we use 100% Multi-grain PLUS from Milton Baking)
1 12.5 oz can premium chunk chicken breast in water (less if you want smaller sandwiches)
2 green onions, chopped finely
1 heaping tbsp mayonnaise
Gruyère cheese, enough to cover one side of sandwich in thin layer
Earth Balance (butter), softened, enough to coat 4 slices of bread, approx 2.5-3 tsp
Ground black pepper as desired

1. Break up chicken in a bowl as finely as you prefer (we love it pretty mashed up). Add mayo, chopped green onions, ground black pepper and mix until thoroughly combined.

2. Spread Earth Balance/butter on two slices of bread and set aside. Lay out slices of Gruyère evenly on the other two slices of bread. Pile on as much or little of the chicken salad mix as you want.

3. In a non-stick pan, melt half of the remaining Earth Balance/butter on the lowest heat setting. Set the slice of bread with cheese and chicken in the pan and cover. Toast until the bread is golden brown on the bottom and the cheese is starting to melt (time varies depending on temperature - keep an eye out). Place one buttered slice of bread on top and flip, being careful not to dismantle the sandwich in midair. Cover again and toast until golden brown and cheese is very melty. Remove from pan, slice and serve.

Happy munching!

*I'm sorry the name is misleading... I realized today after listening to a Subway radio ad that these are actually called "tuna melts".

Costco chicken: http://www2.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10181579&whse=BD_115&topnav=bdoff