Director of Dining Services
St. Clares Health System
Denville, NJ
“One of our most popular sandwiches, in both the employee and visitor cafeterias, is a 6 oz. grilled chicken breast that we marinate overnight in light Italian dressing. The chicken is then grilled and served with fresh arugula tossed with a prepared light vinaigrette dressing and bright red grape tomatoes or roasted red peppers for added color. We serve the sandwich on a variety of breads, including focaccia rolls and flavored wraps.”
Cash Operations Manager
Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown, PA
“In the Jay’s Nest in our student union, we sell two types of grilled chicken sandwiches. One is a basic version, with lettuce and mayo on a hamburger bun. Our specialty sandwich, named The Annenberger after this building, is a charbroiled chicken breast topped with sliced ham, melted Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato. We sell approximately 70-100 sandwiches/week.”
Director of Food and Nutrition Services
Maine Medical Center
Portland, ME
“We serve a grilled chicken sandwich on our lunch and dinner menus in our Impressions café. It’s our biggest seller (300/day) and it retails for $4 with a side salad.
“The chicken breast is marinated in taco meat seasoning and lime juice. We grill the chicken, cut it into strips, top it with grilled onions and peppers, sliced tomato and Monterey Jack cheese and serve it on a toasted hoagie roll.”
Director of Dining Services
University of Califorinia/Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
“We’re introducing a new chicken sandwich that uses a frozen mesquite-flavored chicken breast. We’ll grill it close to order and then top it with a tomato and three-pepper salsa and serve it on focaccia bread.”
V.P. of Culinary Operations
Flik International
Rye Brook, NY
“We serve grilled chicken breasts in a wide variety of applications. Recently we did a very popular promotion where we developed 15 different dry rubs ranging from Jamacian to Grecian to Southwestern to Italian. We let our customers select which rub they wanted and we sprinkled their choice on the chicken prior to grilling it.
“As for presentation ideas, I like to stick with a theme. If you’re selling a Southern-style chicken sandwich, try serving it on corn bread. If it’s an Italian sandwich, add some pesto sauce and serve on ciabatta bread or a focaccia roll.”
Yield: 12 sandwiches
12 6-oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 oz. olive oil
1/4 bunch cilantro
6 Tbsps. Southwestern Spice Rub (recipe below)
2 oz. honey
Juice from 2 limes
4 oz. chili powder
4 oz. salt
12 oz. coarsely ground black pepper
10 oz. ground cumin seed
12 oz. granulated garlic
10 Tbsps. granulated onion
1 bunch fresh cilanto, chopped
Blend all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
4 ears fresh corn
½ onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
¼ cup brown sugar
8 oz. kidney beans, dry
1 oz. cider vinegar
½ tsp. crushed red pepper
2 Tbsps. cilantro
1 oz. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
12 Kaiser rolls
1. Toss the chicken with the olive oil, cilantro, honey and lime juice. Marinate in the refrigerator for several hours.
2. For salsa: Boil the beans until tender. Set aside.
3. Remove corn silk and roast corn while still in husk for approximately 35 minutes in a 350°F degree oven. Allow to cool, remove husk and cut kernels from cob.
4. Sauté onions and peppers, add corn and remaining ingredients, simmer the mixture approximately 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chill.
5. Cook to order as follows: Lightly coat chicken breasts with olive oil and then generously coat each with 1 ½ tsps. of spice rub each. Grill the chicken until well browned on both sides and a minimum internal temperature of 165°F has been attained.
6. Serve sandwiches on Kaiser rolls topped with 2 oz. of relish each.
Recipe from Bill Chodan, Flik International.
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