Black & Decker Ultimate Sandwich Recipe Contest {Leanne’s Salsa Chicken Sandwich}

Many of you don’t know this, but the first place my husband and I moved into didn’t have a kitchen (say what?!) 

Yes, it’s true, back in 2000 we rented the basement of a larger house and although we *technically* shared the kitchen with our upstairs neighbors, we didn’t do a whole lot of cooking in there.  To survive the year and a half we called it home, we ended up making a studio apartment for ourselves and improvising our own kitchen by buying a stainless steel mini fridge, a toaster oven, and a baker’s rack for our cookware and dishes. 

What I found out back then was that just about everything you can make in a full-size oven can also be made in a toaster oven, and the setup worked out perfectly for my husband and I.  But, after we moved out of the basement and into a house of our own, we ended up ditching the toaster oven for a full size stove/oven combo for our growing family.  Although it made sense at the time, to be completely honest, I was really sad that I was no longer exclusively cooking in a toaster oven. 

There’s something incredibly fun about cooking in a small space, and especially now that toaster ovens come with fancy schmancy features like convection cooking, oven timers, and room for a whole family’s worth of food.  These past few weeks I was a participant in the Black & Decker Ultimate Sandwich Recipe Contest and I got to renew my love for toaster oven cooking with a brand new Black & Decker convection countertop toaster oven. 

Getting creative with lunch and dinner quickly became the goal each night as we whipped up dinner in the new toaster oven in no time at all.  After a few weeks had passed in our “toast-off”, we surveyed the recipes and pictures taken, and ultimately decided on a winner based on ease of cooking, family-friendliness, and, of course, yumminess. 

Without further ado, I give you the winning sandwich creation, affectionately called the “Salsa Chicken Sandwich”…

Leanne’s “Almost-Famous” Salsa Chicken Sandwich {serves 2}

Sandwich Ingredients
•    2 Ciabatta or Kaiser Rolls
•    2 chicken breasts seasoned with lime juice
•    2 slices of cheese – our favorites are pepperjack and provolone, but you can use just about any block cheese you would like
•    Homemade pico de gallo salsa

Pico de Gallo Ingredients {makes extra so you can add chips and make it your side dish with your prepared sandwiches}
•    2 large tomatoes
•    ½ medium white onion
•    Handful of cilantro
•    1/3 cup lime juice
•    1/3 head green cabbage
•    Salt to taste
•    ½ small jalapeno

Begin by broiling your chicken breasts in the toaster oven until fully cooked {alternatively, you can use precooked refrigerated chicken breasts for easy weeknight meals}

Then, while the chicken is cooking, start to prepare the salsa by finely chopping the cilantro, cabbage and jalapeno {for milder salsa you can remove the seeds or omit entirely} and by cutting the tomatoes and onion into small 1/4” cubes.  If you choose to use an electric food processor, just make sure you save the tomatoes until last and only lightly process so they don’t end up pureeing instead of chopping. 

You then combine chopped salsa ingredients in a medium bowl and add the lime juice and salt to taste.  Set aside {or grab some chips and snack while you cook}  

Assemble the sandwich open faced with cheese and the pre-cooked chicken and place on broiling pan {included with toaster oven}.  Broil sandwich in toaster oven until cheese is melted and the bun is toasted, about 4-5 minutes. 

When sandwich is warm and toasted, simply spoon salsa on top and assemble to serve.  Add a handful of chips and you have yourself a delicious meal that is a family favorite here at Rave Central.

This post was written for Family Review Network & Black & Decker who provided the complimentary product for participation in this contest