Greek-inspired Flat Bread with Poached Chicken, Feta Cheese, and Kalamata Olives
Recently I was down for over a week with some kind of cold/flu type thing. For the first few days I survived mostly on tea and hot toddies, with an occasional piece of toast. Once my appetite starting coming back, though, I need some actual food. One problem–I wasn’t sure if I was still contagious, so I didn’t want to touch any of the plates, utensils, or fresh food items at the risk of getting Kristen sick.
For the next couple of days we ate canned pork and beans with hot dogs, scrambled eggs, and other easy fixin’s that Kristen was able to make. (DISCLAIMER: She can actually cook some pretty tasty meals, but just doesn’t like to, and was also tired from working all day.) Finally, though, I really needed some “real” food, so Kristen and I made a deal–I would come out to the kitchen and direct her while she made something for both of us.
Although there were a few challenging moments (“What do you mean slice them lengthwise–why not slice them in half?”) this system actually worked pretty well. One of my favorite meals that she made was this Greek-inspired, oven baked, open-faced flat bread sandwich.
For the bread, we used a red pepper-hummus flavored store-bought flat bread.
She started loading it up with some crumbled Feta cheese, a few chunks of fresh mozzarella, and a few slices of Bermuda onion.
She then chopped some Kalamata olives.
The next step was kind of fun, as Kristen learned how to de-seed a tomato.
“Why do I need to do that?” she asked. Isn’t that wasteful?
“Don’t worry,” I said. “We’ll use the seeds and juice in a sauce later.
“But why do it in the first place?”
“Well,” I said, “it keeps the bread from getting soggy.”
“Makes sense,” she said, but I realized later that the fresh mozzarella would also leak some water content, so if you try this at home, I’d recommend that you cut back on the mozzarella or use shredded instead of fresh, or just use a little extra Feta cheese.
Next, she hand-shredded some poached chicken breast left over from some chicken noodle soup I had made the night before.
After toasting the sandwiches in a 400 degree oven for about ten minutes, she added a garnish of chopped parsley, aa few extra tomato slices, a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of lemon juice.
The fresh garnish combined with the tangy Feta cheese and Kalamata olives really made this sandwich come alive, with flavors that I could taste even though my head was stuffy and my taste buds were, let’s just say, not in the best working order.
Try this recipe at home and let me know what you think–it certainly did the trick for me.
And remember, Eat Well, Live Well, and Be Happy!
Lawrence J. Clark: The Mountain Man Gourmet!
