Chipotle Grilled Chicken with Avocado Sandwich

Adapted from Simply Recipes


3 Tbps olive oil
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (less or more depending on how much heat you want)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 breast halves)
4 small slices of Monterey Jack cheese
4 sets of hamburger buns
1 avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced
Iceberg or lettuce of preference
Mayonnaise


1. In a shallow bowl, stir together the olive oil, lime juice, and chipotle chile powder.

2. Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper. Use a meat pounder to pound the breasts to an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. Cut off excess fat. If you are starting with 2 half-pound chicken breast halves, cut each one in half so that you have 4 pieces (to better fit the buns). Place the chicken breasts in the marinade, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes, preferably an hour.

3. Heat your grill on high heat if you are using a gas grill, or prepare coals for direct heat if you are using charcoal. You can also use a cast-iron grill pan on your stove if you do not have a grill. Grill the chicken pieces a couple minutes on each side, until cooked through. Once you have cooked the chicken pieces on one side and flipped them, add a slice of cheese to the chicken. Cover the grill for half a minute to melt the cheese. Toast the buns on the grill as well.

4. Assemble the sandwiches - bun bottom, chicken with melted cheese, avocado and lettuce, mayonnaise on the top bun.

Serves 4.


My Changes:
I really liked this sandwich- it was easy and pretty healthy too. I pounded the chicken in a ziploc bag (with a meat mallet) and then poured the marinade into the same bag and refrigerated for several hours. I cooked these on a skillet over the stove b/c our gas grill wasn't working- and they still turned out very juicy and nice. I had a block of monterey jack cheese and so just cut little pieces off of it and melted them on the sandwich near the end of cooking. I used whole wheat sandwich buns from Wal-Mart and they were very tasty.

Instead of slicing the avocado, I mashed it and spread it on top of the mayo- I'm not a huge fan of avocado and I felt like this worked better for me and gave a great flavor. For next time, I might try putting some roasted red peppers on top as an additional garnish- Yum!