Ahh...Comfort Foods

Okay, so I was tagged and asked to give a recipe for my favorite comfort food. I love this sandwich and eat it often. It's great for an easy dinner, but for a quick lunch I've used chicken cold cuts instead of grilled chicken and just toasted bread and it's just about as delicious.

And what's a sandwich without soup! Everyone knows soup is an amazing comfort food, so I've included one of my favorite soup recipes. It's not light like the chicken sandwich, but this is about comfort, not diets, right?

Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich

1/4 cup (about 2 ounces) sun-dried tomato pesto (such as Classico)
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 (8-ounce) loaf ciabatta (or any nice deli rolls)
12 large basil leaves
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sliced bottled roasted red bell peppers
1 large tomato, thinly sliced

I like to pound and brine the chicken in 1/4 cup kosher or sea salt to 4 cups water for an hour or two. The original recipe didn't call for this, but it keeps the chicken so tender.

Combine pesto and mayonnaise in a small bowl, stirring to blend.
Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt.

Either: Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until done.

OR (my preference): Grill.

Remove chicken to cutting board, and cool slightly. Cut chicken lengthwise into thin slices.

Preheat broiler.

Cut ciabatta in half horizontally. Place bread, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Spread pesto mixture evenly over cut sides of bread. Arrange the chicken slices evenly over bottom half. Top chicken evenly with basil leaves, and sprinkle cheese over top. Place bottom half on baking sheet, and broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Arrange bell pepper and tomato over cheese, and cover with top half of bread. Cut into 4 equal pieces.

Enjoy!

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)

CALORIES 394 (31% from fat); FAT 13.4g (sat 3.9g,mono 7.4g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 31.3g; CHOLESTEROL 63mg; CALCIUM 187mg; SODIUM 796mg; FIBER 2g; IRON 2.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37.3g


Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

4 cups chicken broth (32 oz.)
2 cups water
2 cups boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
4 1/2 ounces long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy cream (16 oz. carton)


In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water, and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened - 5 minutes.

Stir cream mixture into broth and rice mixture. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10-15 minutes.