Honey-Chipotle Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

Regardless of the fact that I am no longer pregnant, I am still on a serious sandwich and lemonade kick. Sandwiches are so great for the summer time - especially when they are as delicious as this sandwich! This spicy yet sweet combination of honey and chipotle makes for a mouthful of awesomeness! Add to the fact that this is pretty simple to make and what more could you ask for? How about the fact that it is another recipe that comes from Cooking Light? Delicious AND better for you?! What is that about!?

This sandwich is DEFINITELY going to go on our rotation. Although... I may have to wait awhile to make it again because it gave my poor nursing baby some pretty bad gas...

The picture and recipe are courtesy of Myrecipes.com and can be found at this site here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/honey-chipotle-barbecue-chicken-sandwiches-10000001054888/

HONEY-CHIPOTLE BARBECUE CHICKEN SANDWICHES
Adapted from Myrecipes.com

·         1/2 cup water
·         1 teaspoon ground cumin
·         4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
·         1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
·         1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce or 1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chiles
·         1 tablespoon canola oil
·         1 tablespoon minced garlic
·         1 teaspoon ground cumin
·         1/2 cup canned tomato puree (see note below)
·         1/4 cup cider vinegar
·         3 tablespoons honey
·         1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
·         1/4 teaspoon salt
·         4 (1 1/2-ounce) sandwich rolls
·         2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced (we used havarti - use what you have on hand!)
·         4 (1/8-inch-thick) slices red onion

Combine water, 1 teaspoon cumin, 4 sliced garlic cloves, and chicken in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Drain, and place chicken on a cutting board. Cut chicken across grain into thin slices or shred (we preferred shredding for better portion control, easier sandwich compilation and better sauce distribution); keep warm.

Remove 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from can; set aside. Remove 2 chipotle chiles from can; finely chop and set aside. Reserve remaining chiles and adobo sauce for another use. (This step is unnecessary if you are using ground chipotle. The biggest advantage to using the ground is that it isn't as spicy as the canned chiles. Chipotle is quite hot and easily gets to be too much so be careful whichever way you go. Remember that you can always add more spice later but it is harder to take it away.)

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Add 1 teaspoon cumin; sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomato puree; cook 4 minutes or until mixture thickens to a paste like consistency, stirring constantly. Stir in reserved 2 tablespoons adobo sauce, 2 chopped chipotle chiles, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add sliced chicken to sauce; simmer for 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Preheat broiler.

Split rolls in half; arrange in a single layer, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 1 minute or until lightly toasted. Remove top halves of rolls from baking sheet. Divide chicken mixture evenly among bottom halves of rolls, and top chicken mixture evenly with cheese. Broil chicken-topped rolls 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; top with onion and top roll halves. Serve immediately.

Jennifer Martinkus, Cooking Light
MAY 2005

*TIPS!*

~Surprisingly enough, all of my favorite store bought bread products come from Wal-mart. They have a great selection of different kinds of rolls that are really good and very reasonably priced. I got crusty sandwich rolls for our sandwich recipes this week and they were excellent.

~If you are wondering what a jar of Ground Chipotle Chile looks like this an example of what you should be keeping an eye out for in the store:

~Tomato puree is NOT tomato paste or tomato sauce. You can buy it in the store or you can buy a can of diced tomatoes, drain BUT RESERVE the juice from the tomatoes, and then blend the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. You want to reserve the juice in case your mix gets too thick later on and this will allow you to thin it out a bit. But DO NOT use tomato sauce or paste instead.