Asian grilled chicken ‘gritswich’ with crunchy coleslaw

 

This one’s certainly no ordinary grilled chicken sandwich, it’s a creative notch above! Basically, I let my good ol sandwich bread sit aside awhile, and instead grabbed gluten-free yellow corn grits from my kitchen pantry instead. What are grits? Simply put, crushed or broken grains of corn. If I had polenta lying in my pantry I could have used that too, since they both are pretty much similar. So I cooked the grits and converted them to grit cakes. In between two grit cakes, I filled in some Asian flavoured grilled chicken breast strips and red onions. And served it with a crunchy and crisp cabbage-carrot coleslaw in a Sriracha hot chili sauce, yoghurt and mayo dressing. Crisp romaine lettuce leaves and fresh celery sticks to complete the meal.

Yup, this sandwich, I mean ‘gritswich’ has my stamp all over it:-)! Clean and fresh flavours, give this recipe a try, brunch, lunch or dinner time…my family simply loved it!

Servings 3

Gluten-free yellow corn grits- 1 cup

Water – 4 cups

A pinch salt

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

For the grilled chicken filling and marinade:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
Juice of a lemon
1 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 star anise, broken in small pieces
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
A handful of fresh coriander or parsley stems, and few green onion sprigs.
2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and white pepper powder, to taste

For the crunchy coleslaw:3 cups shredded green cabbage 2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup thick plain yoghurt
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. Sriracha hot chili sauce.
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper powder

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onions

6 romaine lettuce leaves
A few fresh celery sticks

For the chicken, mix all the ingredients for the marinade. In a plastic ziploc bag or big bowl, add the chicken alongwith the marinade and mix well. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Cook the grits according to the package instructions. In this case, I added a cup of grits to 4 cups of water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Immediately spread the cooked grits evenly on the baking sheet, say about 1/2 thickness. Refrigerate for an hour

till it hardens. Cut rounds with a cookie cutter and keep aside.

In another bowl, add the veggies for the coleslaw. In a small bowl, keep the dressing ready, that is, mix together yoghurt, Sriracha, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Set aside. For a crisp bite to the coleslaw, only add the dressing just before serving the coleslaw. If you add it beforehand, the veggies get soggy and too moist.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Arrange marinated chicken on a aluminium foil-lined baking tray(discard the parsley/coriander stems) and bake for about 20 minutes till cooked.

In a large skillet, add extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat. Add the grit cakes and fry on each side for 3-4 minutes.

To serve – On a platter, place a grits cake and top it with the chicken and onions. Place another grits cake on top. Arrange a couple of romaine lettuce leaves and spoon some

 

coleslaw on them. Garnish with a couple of crunchy celery sticks.